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il7  UleiUOir  of  the  Services  of  Lieut.- 
Gen.  Sir  Samuel  Ford  Whittingham, 
chiefly  from  hia  own  Letters  and  from  those 
of  Distinguished  Contemporaries,  edited  by 
Mtjor-General  Ferdinard  Whittingham,  0. 
B.  Portrait.  8vo,  cloth,  75c.  London, 
1868. 

Well  known  In  the  history  of  the  Peninsular  War. 
afterwards  Commander  in  Chief  at  Madras. 


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LIEUTENANT-GENERAL 

SIR   SAMUEL   FORD   WHITTINGHAM, 

K.C.B.,  K.C.H.,  G.C.F. 


LONDON:    FEINTED   BY 

SPOTTISWOODE    AND    CO.,    NEW-STEEET    SQUAKB 

AND    PAKLIAMKNT    STKEET 


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A     MEMOIR     OF     THE     SERVICES 

OP 

LIEUTENANT-GENERAL 

Sm   SAMUEL   FORD   WHUTINGHAM, 

// 
K.C.B.,  K.C.H.,  G.C.F. 

Colonel  of  the  71st  Highland  Light  Infantry. 

DERIVED    CHIEFLY    FROM    HIS    OWN    LETTERS    AND    FROM    THOSE 
OF    DISTINGUISHED    CONTEMPORARIES. 


EDITED    BV 


MAJOR-GENEEAL  FERDINAND  WHITTINGHAM,   C.B. 


NEW    EDITION. 


LONDON: 
LONGMANS,    GEEEN,    AND    CO. 

1868. 


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HIS     ROYAL     HIGHNESS 


FIELD-MARSHAL 


GEOEGE   DUKE    OF   CAMBRIDGE,  K.G. 


COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, 


S;^is  IP'fllttme  w, 


BY    THE  GRACIOUS  PERMISSION    OF   HIS    ROYAL   HIGHNESS, 


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PREFACE 

TO 

THE      NEW     EDITION. 


The  errors  and  imperfections  contained  in  tlie  first 
edition  of  this  work,  occasioned  its  speedy  suppression, 
in  order  to  substitute  for  it  the  revised,  and,  as  the  Editor 
trusts,  considerably  improved  volume  now  offered  to  the 
pubHc.  His  best  thanks  are  assuredly  due  to  those 
critics  who  have  already  noticed  the  work ;  because,  as 
may  be  seen  at  the  end  of  the  Appendix,  they  have  amply 
justified  the  opinion  which  he  had  long  entertained,  that 
the  services  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  required  only 
to  be  better  known  in  order  to  be  fully  appreciated  by 
his  generous  countrymen. 

Of  those  services  the  Editor  hopes  that  the  present 
volume  is  more  worthy  than  its  predecessor  of  becoming 
the  permanent  record. 

It  is  only  necessary  to  add  that  the  engraving  in  this 
edition  is  a  great  improvement  on  the  preceding  one, 
and  now  does  full  justice  to  the  portrait  from  which  it 
was  taken. 


PREFACE. 


By  graciously  consenting  to  accept  of  the  dedication  of 
this  volume,  the  illustrious  Field  Marshal  who  commands 
the  British  army  has  conferred  upon  the  memory  of  Sir 
Samford  Whittingham  an  honour,  which  can  hardly  fail 
to  convince  military  readers  that  his  services  and  conduct 
are  worthy  of  being  recorded.  As  regards  civilians,  it 
is  probable  that  they  may  be  interested  in  the  career  of 
an  officer,  who,  although  a  thorough  was  yet  not  a  mere 
soldier :  for  statesmen,  and  ambassadors,  as  well  as  gene- 
rals, have  testified  to  his  merits,  in  the  most  eulogistic 
terms,  and  his  services  were,  on  several  occasions,  of  a 
civil  as  well  as  military  nature.  A  cursory  inspection  of 
the  Index  of  this  work  would  suffice  to  establish  the 
weight  and  importance  of  the  testimonies  adduced. 

In  consequence  of  the  services  of  Sir  Samford  Whit- 
tingham having  been  principally  perfonned  in  the  Spanish 
army,  and  also  because  nearly  the  whole  of  his  mifitary 
career  was  passed  abroad — in  America,  in  the  Peninsula, 
and  in  the  East  and  West  Indies, — it  was  his  misfortune, 
as  regarded  his  countrymen  to  be  ignored  by  the  many, 
although  most  highly  appreciated  by  the  illustrious  few ; 
whose  recognition  of  merit  forms  its  surest  test,  as  well 
as  its  most  valuable  recompense. 


X  PREFACE. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  subject  of  this  Memoir 
ever  contemplated  making  any  record  of  his  services. 
His  brother-in-law,  however,  Mr.  Eichard  Hart  Davis, 
successively  member  for  Colchester  and  Bristol,  always 
preserved  as  much  as  possible  his  letters  and  papers ;  in 
the  belief  that  such  a  pubhcation  as  the  present,  would 
sooner  or  later  occur. 

Unfortunately  many  valuable  letters  have  been  lost, 
including  the  greater  part  of  General  Whittingham's  cor- 
respondence with  two  successive  military  secretaries  at 
the  Horse-Guards.  The  Editor  was  not,  however,  greatly 
surprised,  when  the  letters  in  question  were  found  missing 
from  their  registered  places,  as  he  had  long  believed  that 
their  contents  had,  for  the  most  part,  been  embodied  in 
Southey's  '  History  of  the  Peninsular  War.'  Indeed  a 
number  of  details  in  that  work  could  hardly  have  been 
collected  from  any  other  source.  At  the  battles  of 
Baylen  and  Medellin,  for  instance,  only  one  Englishman 
appears  to  have  been  present,  and  yet  he  is  not  mentioned 
by  his  brother  Bristolian,  South ey;  although  from  him 
only  could  the  latter  have  learned  the  speeches  which 
Castanos  and  Alburquerque  addressed  to  that  English- 
man. This  personal  silence  confirms  the  fact  in  question 
to  those  who  know  how  General  Whittingham  was  wont 
to  leave  to  others  the  task  of  recording  his  merits  and 
services. 

In  consequence  of  the  loss  of  the  letters  addressed  to 
Colonels  Gordon  and  Torrens,  the  private  letters  to  his 
brother-in-law,  Mr.  Hart  Davis,  form  the  chief  basis  of 
this  Memoir  ;  and  their  frank  and  unreserved  style  is 
particularly  suited  for  such  a  purpose.     But  from  their 


PREFACE.  XI 

voluminous  nature,  it  has  been  possible  only  to  give  brief 
extracts,  as  a  general  rule. 

The  Editor  first  projected  this  work  in  1845.  Aware 
that  the  late  heroic  Earl  of  Fife  had  been  the  friend  and 
admirer  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  he  wrote  to  his 
Lordship  to  inform  him  of,  and  to  consult  him  on,  his 
intentions.  The  following  (omitting  only  some  irrelevant 
private  matters)  was  the  reply  of  Lord  Fife  : — 

'  DuFP  House  :   Tuesday,  [post-mark  28  March,  1845], 

'Dear  Whittingham, — I  was  very  happy  to  have  the 
pleasure  of  receiving  your  interesting  note  regarding  the 
memory  of  your  excellent  father,  my  late  intimate  and 
worthy  friend.  I,  of  course,  am  acquainted  with  much 
information  about  Sir  Samford,  and  all  that  I  can  pos- 
sibly do,  to  forward  your  views  and  wishes,  shall  be  with 
much  good  will  executed  ;  to  do  justice  to  the  gallant 
soldier,  and  talented  gentleman,  your  father. 

'  Suchet,  with  whom  I  was  well  acquainted,  often  con- 
versed with  me  regarding  different  officers  who  had 
opposed  him  ;  and  particularly  mentioned  the  merits  of 
your  father  which,  he  said,  might  have  been  followed 
with  bad  results  to  the  French,  had  the  war  continued 
much  longer.  He  said,  "  Whittingham's  corps  was  the 
best  disciplined,  and  if  the  example  had  been  followed 
in  many  other  instances,  in  different  parts  of  Spain,  the 
French  army  would  have  felt  the  effects  in  a  remarkable 
manner." 

'  General  Eeeves,  an  intimate  friend  of  mine,  who  was 
in  Catalonia,  often  spoke  most  honourably  of  your  father, 
although  he  did  not  much  like  those  Enghsh  who  were 
with  the  Espagnolles.     ... 


Xll  PKEFACE. 

'There  are  two  points  to  be  noticed  about  your  father's 
conduct,  which  party  and  other  reasons  have  rendered 
obscure  :  his  commanding  the  troops  that  marched  to 
Madrid,  when  the  Cortes  were  assembled  ;  and  also  at  the 
battle  of  Barrosa.  I  shall  afterwards  make  some  obser- 
vations and  references  about  both  ;  and  also  [give]  some 
details  of  his  services  in  the  early  part  of  the  war  with 
[General]  Cuesta,  and  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque,  the  im- 
portance of  which  were  passed  over  or  little  known.  .  .  . 

'  I  took  your  father  from  Talavera,  and,  I  think,  saved 
his  life,  in  having  a  very  good  surgeon  of  the  Guards* 
every  day,  and  [by  having]  fed  him  with  tea,  coffee  and 
butter,  which  were  [then]  of  more  value  than  gold  ;  and 
I  obliged  him  to  go  from  the  field  in  the  evening,  and 
made  a  doctor  go  with  him  to  my  quarters. 

'My  brother.  Sir  Alexander  Duff,  knew  your  father 
well,  and  came  home  with  him  from  Buenos  Ayres.  I 
was  nearly  being  his  second  in  a  duel  between  him  and 

J of  the  Guards.    Sir  Charles  Felix  Smith,  his  second 

and  I  made  it  up  ;  which  was  fortunate  for  J ,  as 

your  father  was  a  capital  shot.f 

'  Believe  me,  most  truly,  [yours] 

'  Fife.' 

*  Major  Whittingham,  [26th]  Cameronians, 
Manchester.' 

In  consequence  of  the  increasing  infirmities  of  Lord 
Fife,  the  Editor  did  not  again  trouble  his  Lordship,  nor 

*  The  goodness  of  the  surgeon,  in  a  medical  sense,  is  disproved  in  this 
Memoir. 

f  No  record  of  this  affair  will  be  found  in  this  volume,  owing  to  want  of 
details  on  the  subject.  The  Editor  believes  that,  either  at  Cadiz  or  Seville, 
the  quarrel  arose  from  some  expressions  on  the  part  of  the  Guardsman, 
which  were  deemed  insulting  to  the  Spanish  officers. 


PREFACE.  Xlll 

did  the  latter  ever  send  his  promised  informatioD.  By 
his  letter,  however,  he  had  confirmed  to  the  son,  that 
valuable  testimony  regarding  Marshal  Suchet,  which  in 
1814  he  had  spontaneously  sent  to  the  father.*  But  the 
effect  of  his  letter  was  to  delay  the  writing  of  this  Memoir. 
Eegimentally  the  Editor  was  then  only  a  captain  ;  and 
he  had  not  the  means  or  leisure  for  acquiring  that  com- 
pleteness of  information,  necessary  to  do  justice  to  a  case, 
which  party  spirit  and  ignorance  of  details,  had  rendered 
obscure,  in  the  opinion  of  a  good  and  friendly  judge. 
Indeed  some  important  facts  only  came  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  Editor,  after  the  death  of  Sir  William  Napier  and 
the  publication  of  his  life. 

The  Editor,  however,  delayed  chiefly  on  account  of  his 
roving  and  unsettled  life.  He  waited  therefore  till  he 
should  have  both  leisure,  and  a  fixed  habitation,  to  enable 
him  to  study  the  voluminous  correspondence  of  Sir  Sam- 
ford  Whittingham  and  the  '  Wellington  Dispatches.'  At 
length  he  has  accomplished  his  task  to  the  best  of  his 
ability  ;  amidst  the  difficulties  of  selection,  rejection,  and 
condensation,  and  of  the  loss  of  many  valuable  papers  ; 
and  having  also  considerably  to  curtail  the  MSS.  when 
finished,  as  too  bulky. 

The  delay  brings  with  it,  however,  this  advantage, 
that  it  has  facilitated  candour  and  plain  speaking;  and 
has  also  probably  given  time  for  the  decay  of  that  party 
spirit,  and  professional  jealousy,  by  which  some  facts  were 
formerly  greatly  misrepresented. 

The  Editor  also  trusts  that  the  letters  of  distinguished 
persons  which  are  published  in  this  volume,  may  be  in- 

*  See  p.  239. 


XIV  PREFACE. 

teresting  in  themselves,  as  well  as  from  their  being  strong 
testimonies  to  character  and  conduct.  Next  to  those  of 
the  Duke  of  Wellington,  and  of  the  Marquis  Wellesley, 
the  letters  of  the  Honourable  Sir  Edward  Paget,  and  of 
Lord  William  Bentinck,  furnish  the  strongest  proofs  of 
the  merits  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham.  Lord  William 
has  an  established  reputation  as  a  good  officer  and  en- 
lightened statesman  ;  but  Sir  Edward  Paget  has  not 
perhaps  been  sufficiently  appreciated.  How  highly  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  esteemed  him,  his  '  Dispatches '  have 
proved  :  but  what  Sir  Charles  Napier  thought  of  him  is 
probably  less  known,  and  is,  therefore,  here  recorded ;  on 
the  authority  of  a  living  eye — and  ear — witness  of  the 
circumstances. 

In  1848  Lord  Frederick  Fitz- Clarence,  then  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of  Portsmouth,  accidentally  met,  in  the 
streets  of  that  town,  the  two  soldier-sons  of  Sir  Edward 
Paget,  and  asked  them  to  lunch  with  him  that  day,  as  he 
was  expecting  Sir  Charles  Napier,  on  his  way  to  Osborne 
to  see  the  Queen.  This  was  at  the  time,  when,  at  the 
general  call  of  the  country,  Sir  Charles  was  about  to  pro- 
ceed to  India  to  save  that  empire  from  what  was  then 
considered  as  impending  ruin.  Lord  Frederick  intro- 
duced the  young  men  to  his  distinguished  guest,  who, 
taking  them  each  by  the  hand,  said  :  '  Ah !  if  poor  Sir 
Edward  had  had  the  health  for  it,  he  would  have  been 
the  man  to  send  to  India.'  * 

Although  four  portraits  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham 
exist,  the  best  by  far  is  a  small   one  from   which  the 

As  this  circumstance  occurred  some  years  after  the  death  of  Sir 
Samford  Whittingham,  it  is  recorded  here  instead  of  in  the  body  of  the 
work. 


PREFACE.  '         XV 

engraving  in  this  volume  is  taken.  It  has,  indeed,  the 
disadvantage  of  presenting  him  as  the  midecorated  Cap- 
tain of  1807,  instead  of  the  General  with  his  three  orders 
of  knighthood  and  seven  medals,  or  minor  decorations. 
But  this  defect  the  skill  of  the  engraver  has  lessened 
by  making  a  representation  of  the  decorations  under  the 
portrait. 

During  his  last  visit  to  England  Sir  Samford  promised 
at  the  request  of  his  eldest  niece  (Mrs.  Harford  of  Blaise 
Castle)  to  commit  to  writing  some  of  those  Peninsular 
anecdotes  with  which  he  had  amused  his  relatives.  This 
promise  he  fulfilled  on  his  last  voyage  to  Madras  in  1840  ; 
and  the  Editor  has  made  use  of  nearly  all  these  '  Recol- 
lections ' ;  placing  them  in  this  volume,  as  far  as  possible 
in  the  order  of  their  proper  dates. 

Finally,  as  far  as  is  consistent  with  the  sacred  claims 
of  justice  to  the  memory  of  a  beloved  and  honoured 
parent,  the  Editor  has  endeavoured  to  justify  the  con- 
fidence placed  in  him  by  the  highly  estimable  gentleman, 
who  may  be  deemed  to  represent  the  interests  of  his 
celebrated  connection — Sir  William  Napier.  This  task 
has  been  greatly  facilitated  by  the  fact  that  six  of  the 
seven  grand-children  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  are  re- 
lated to  that  family,  one  of  whose  most  distinguished 
members  did  him  a  great,  even  if  unintentional  wrong. 

The  confidence  in  question  was  expressed  in  a  note 
concluding  with  the  following  words  : — 

'  I  greatly  respect  your  sense  of  honour  and  justice  and 
am  sure  that  in  vindicating  your  distinguished  father  you 
will  not  forget  what  is  due  to  others.' 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

1772-1805. 

PAG* 

Difficulty  in  tracing  the  Family  Antecedents — William  Whitting- 
ham  of  Bristol — Miss  Eichardson — Samuel  Ford  changed  to 
Samford — He  would  be  a  Soldier — Old  Mr.  Whittingham  objects 
to  his  Son's  entering  the  Army — Samford  proceeds  to  Spain — 
The  ruling  Passion — Death  of  his  Father — Returns  Home — 
Gazetted  Ensign — Lieutenancy  in  1st  Life  Guards — Disadvan- 
tage of  tardy  Entrance  to  the  Army — High  Wycombe  College — 
Sixteen  Hours  a  day  Study — Mr.  Thomas  Murdoch — William 
Pitt's  secret  Mission — Note  of  Hon.  W.  Eliot — Lisbon — Rogers 
and  Richardson— Mr.  Pitt's  Thanks— His  Death — The  loth 
Light  Dragoons — Early  Promotion  of  the  Hon.  Edward  Paget, 
the  future  Friend  of  Samford  Whittingham       .  .         .  1 — 8 

CHAPTER  IL 

1806-1807. 

Secret  Expedition  under  Brigadier-General  Robert  Craufurd — 
Captain  Whittingham  embarks  at  Portsmouth,  12th  November, 
1806 — Touches  at  St.  lago — Midnight  Freak  of  some  British 
Officers  —  Generosity  of  Portuguese  Governor  —  A  well-kept 
Secret — Arrival  at  the  Cape — How  the  Secret  was  discovered 
—  Arrival  at  Montevideo — General  Whitelocke —  Order  of 
Battle — Landing  near  Barragan — General  Whitelocke's  flatter- 
ing Offer  to  Captain  Whittingham — Why  declined — General 
Whitelocke's  Errors — Question  of  not  loading — Captain  Whit- 
tingham sent  to  reconnoitre — Captain  Whittingham  volunteers 
to  enter  the  Town — How  he  reached  the  Plaza  de  los  Toros — 
Returns  to  Head-quarters  for  Aid — Volunteers  again  to  endeavour 
to  join  Craufurd — Joins  Nicols  and  Tolly  at  Residencia — Proof 
of  Craufard's  Surrender — Successful  Charge  of  Major  Nicols — 

a 


XVI 11  CONTENTS. 

PAQB 

Captain  Whittingham  returns  to  Head-quarters — Suspension 
of  Hostilities — General  Gower  differs  in  opinion  from  Captain 
Whittingham — Preliminaries  of  Peace — A  disgraceful  Treaty 
— General  Liniera — Loss  to  England  by  the  Surrender — The 
civic  Compliments  to  General  Whitelocke — Captain  Cormero's 
Information  regarding  the  Weakness  of  the  Buenos  Ayres 
Garrison — Durable  Friendships  contracted  at  Buenos  Ayres — 
Henry  Torrens  and  the  Hon.  Henry  Cadogan — General  White- 
locke's  Trial — Brings  Captain  Whittingham  into  notice — Duke 
of  Kent  becomes  his  Patron — General  Eobert  Craufurd's  Tes- 
timony and  that  of  Colonel  Gordon  ....  9 — 27 

CHAPTER  IH. 

1808. 

Appointed  to  the  Staff  of  the  Army  in  Sicily — Takes  leave  of  the 
Duke  of  Kent — Arrives  at  Gibraltar — Acts  as  Military  Secre- 
tary to  Sir  Hew  Dalrymple — Obtains  leave  to  join  General 
Castanos  as  a  Volunteer — His  Brother-in-law's  Letter  of 
Advice — His  Appointment  to  the  Staff  of  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley 
— His  '  Recollections '  of  the  Battle  of  Baylen — Castanos'  gene- 
rous Speech  to  Dupont — The  first  Englishman  who  fought  in 
the  Peninsular  War — Shared  in  the  Victory  by  joining  La 
Pefia's  Advanced  Guard — Interview  with  Lord  Collingwood — 
With  the  Traitor  La  Morla — Scene  at  Seville  in  the  Junta 
Suprema — Castanos'  Patriotism — Whittingham  made  Colonel 
of  Horse — The  Englishman's  Fall — The  Duke  of  York's  Pre- 
sent to  Castanos  —  Colonel  Whittingham's  Letter  to  Hon. 
Henry  Cadogan — His  prophetic  Anticipations  of  Spanish 
Failures — Don  Santiago  Whittingham — Fever  at  Tudela — A 
nearly  smothered  Medico — Disgrace  of  Castanos  after  Defeat  of 
Tudela — An  WTidistinguished  Relative  of  the  Empress  Eugenie 
— Effective  Speech  to  a  Spanish  Mob — '  When  the  Englishman 
says  it,  it  must  be  true ' — Things  more  agreeable  as  Recollec- 
tions than  when  actually  occurring — Duke  of  Infantado  sends 
Colonel  Whittingham  on  a  Mission  to  Seville — Gloomy  Aspect 
of  Affairs  in  the  absence  of  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley — First  Meet- 
ing with  Lord  William  Bentinck       •    .         .         .         .         28 — 50 

CHAPTER  IV. 

1809. 

The  Duke  of  Infantado's  Commission — The  Duke's  Retreat — The 
chivalrous   Duke   of  Alburquerque — Surprise    of   Mora — An 


CONTP]NTS.  XIX 

PAGE 

Exciting  Chase — A  Fox-like  Kase — A  horrible  Incident — A 
cunning  Countess — A  complete  Humbug — A  modest  testa- 
mentary Request — Letter  to  Mr.  J.  Hookham  Frere — Bad 
Conduct  of  General  Urbina — His  disgraceful  Rout — Albur- 
querque's  Treatment  of  Traitors — Gallant  Charge  of  Albur- 
querque  and  Staff  at  Medellin — Alava's  Heroism — Reforming 
routed  Cavalry — Unfortunately  lost  Letters — Alburquerque's 
Laudatory  Letters  to  Duke  of  York  and  Lord  Castlereagh — 
Contradictory  Orders  of  Spanish  Government — ^Letters  to  Mr. 
Hookham  Frere — A  Prophecy  destined  to  speedy  fulfilment — 
General  Cuesta's  earliest  British  Critic — A  constant  Source  of 
Annoyance — Sir  A.  Wellesley's  Return  to  the  Peninsula — 
Brigadier-General  Whittingham's  Letter  to  Duke  of  Kent — 
Harmony  of  Frere  and  Whittingham — Marquis  Wellesley's 
Opinion  of  Whittingham — Duke  of  Kent's  Letter  to  Mr.  Davis 
concerning  Brigadier- General  Whittingham — Lost  royal  Letters 
— Interview  with  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley — Meeting  of  General 
Cuesta  and  Sir  A.  Wellesley — Whittingham's  Mission  to  Cuesta 
— Narrow  Escape  of  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley — His  Remarks  to 
Whittingham — Colonel  Roche's  Letter  on  Talavera — Sir  A. 
Wellesley's  Dispatch — A  glaring  Injustice — ^^A  truthful  Com- 
parison         51 — 93 

CHAPTER  V. 

1809-1810.        - 

To  Seville  for  Cure  of  Wound — Attached  to  Marquis  Wellesley's 
Embassy — Dr.  Kennedy's  Treatment — Dr.  Knighton — General 
Cuesta  resigns  his  Command — Sir  A.  Wellesley's  Retreat — 
Brigadier-General  Whittingham's  confidential  Employment  under 
Marquis  Wellesley — Don  Pedro  de  Creus  y  Ximenes,  Intendant 
of  the  Spanish  Army — Affectionate  Letter  to  Colonel  Cadogan 
— Lord  Wellesley's  Character — Cadogan's  Present  to  Whitting- 
ham—  A  Judge  of  Wine — Whittingham  Major-General  in 
Spain — Inconvenience  of  Marquis  Wellesley's  Ambassadorship 
— Sir  Arthur  Wellesley's  candid  Confession  of  Error — A  Secre- 
tary of  Legation's  Jealousy — Whittingham  and  Frere  deemed 
too  partial  to  Alburquerque — A  justified  Preference — Lord 
Wellington's  aristocratic  Prejudices — Close  of  Lord  Wellesley's 
brief  Embassy — The  Marquis's  eulogistic  farewell  Letter — 
Genial  Shade  of  Aristocracy — Lord  Wellington's  Esteem  for 
Alava  and  Whittingham — Lord  Macduff — ^Lord  Wellington's 
Letter  to  General  Whittingham — CastaSos  appoints  him  General 
of-  Division — Employed  in  Isla  de  Leon — Organizes  a  select 

a2 


XX  CONTENTS. 

PAOH 

Body  of  Horse — Importance  of  the  Balearic  Islands — General 
Whittingham's  Promotion  to  Major  in  the  English  Army — 
Alburquerque  relieves  Cadiz — His  Resignation — Proceeds  to 
London  as  Ambassador — Dundas  translated  into  Spanish — 
Mr.  Wellesley  and  General  Graham  recommend  Whitting- 
ham's Promotion — Invitation  to  his  Nephew — Colonel  Campbell 
of  the  Majorca  Division — General  Graham's  voluntary  Testi- 
mony —  Mr.  Wellesley's  official  Praise  —  Marquis  Wellesley's 
kind  Letter  to  General  Whittin^ham  .         .         .         .         94  —  120 


CHAPTER  VI. 

1811. 

The  great  Difficulty  of  General  Whittingham — Napier  and 
Southey  on  the  Battle  of  Barrosa — Graham's  Assumption  of 
Command — He  imputed  no  Blame  to  Whittingham — General 
Whittingham  commanded  Infantry  as  well  as  Cavalry — Disad- 
vantage of  trusting  to  Memory — Whittingham's  official  Report 
to  La  Pena — Ordered  to  retreat  on  main  Body — Graham's 
successful  Charge — Whittingham's  Report  indirectly  blames  La 
Pena — Accidentally  delayed  Advance — An  egregious  Misre- 
presentation of  Facts — General  Whittingham's  Letter  to  Mr. 
Davis  on  Barrosa — The  Duke's  comprehensive  Testimony  in 
favour  of  Whittingham — The  Duke  of  Kent's  spontaneous 
Tribute  to  his  Merits 121—133 


CHAPTER  VII. 

1811 — continued. 

General  Whittingham's  arduous  Task  at  Majorca — Financial  Duties 
— A  punctilious  Governor — Lands  at  Palma — French  and  Ger- 
man Prisoners  —  General  Don  Gregorio  Cuesta  again — Letter  to 
Colonel  Torrens — Letter  to  Right  Hon.  Henry  Wellesley — ■ 
Treatise  on  Majorca — Letter  to  Hon.  Captain  Blackwood,  R.N. 
— Letter  to  Admiral  Pellew — Colonel  Torrens's  Opinion  of 
Whittingham — Letter  to  Colonel  Torrens — Promotion  to  Lieut.- 
Colonel  in  British  Army — Letter  to  Mr.  Davis — Captain 
Briarly's  Mission  to  Cadiz — Official  Delays — General  Whitting- 
ham desired  as  Governor — Solicitations  from  Englishmen — 
Spanish  Jealousies  and  Intrigues — A  nearly  exhausted  Patience 
— General  Cuesta's  Enmity  and  Insults — General  Cuesta's 
Death 134—150 


CONTENTS  XXI 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
1812. 

PAGE 

Letter  to  Sir  Henry  Wellesley — General  Whittingham's  Visit  to 
Minorca — Colonel  Serrano's  Report  of  tlie  Alarm  in  his  Absence 
— Military  College  established  by  General  Whittingham — A 
generous  and  liberal  Spanish  Bishop — Voluminous  Dispatch 
to  Mr.  Wellesley — Importance  of  the  Majorca  Division — Its 
numerical  Strength  at  this  time  weak — Shocking  State  of 
Spanish  Officers  in  Palma — Conditional  Resignation  of  Com- 
mand— Majorca  Division  to  operate  on  Eastern  Coast  under 
Lord  William  Bentinck — Letter  to  Spanish  military  Intendant — 
A  justified  Assurance  given  to  the  Admiral — Urgent  Request 
for  a  Paymaster — General  Whittingham  embarks  with  his 
Division — Resigns  his  Command  prospectively — Is  flatteringly 
requested  to  relinquish  his  Design — His  grateful  Reply  to  the 
Ambassador — Successful  Affairs  of  Posts — A  military  Diver- 
sion— The  Paymaster  Difficulty — A  Prospect  of  Relief  '    151 — 168 


CHAPTER  IX. 
1813. 

Lord  Wellington's  Instructions — Lord  Wellington  refuses  the 
Inspectorship  to  General  Whittingham — The  French  attempt  to 
surprise  Xigona — Treachery  of  an  Italian  Regiment — Colonel 
Walker  and  Officers  of  H.M.'s  58th  Regiment— Lord  Welling- 
ton grants  the  previously  refused  Inspectorship — His  Reluctance 
to  the  Measure — Different  Style  adopted  to  another  Agent — 
Gallant  Conduct  of  the  Spanish  Captain  Ruti — Generous  Conduct 
of  the  French  Captors — A  successful  Ruse — A  brave  Spanish 
Lieutenant — The  French  driven  by  General  Whittingham 
through  the  Pass  of  Albayda — General  Murray's  Two  General 
Orders — Lord  Wellington's  Dispatch — General  Whittingham's 
Report  to  the  Ambassador — Concentayna  Combat — Sir  Henry 
Wellesley 's  Congratulations — Lord  Wellington's  Proof  of  Confi- 
dence— Third  General  Order  praising  Whittingham's  Division 
—  General  Whittingham's  Report  to  Sir  John  Murray— Battle 
of  Castalla— Sir  John  Murray's  Dispatch  to  Lord  Wellington 
— At  Castalla  Spaniards  rivalled  the  British— Anecdote  from 
the  '  Recollections' 169—198 


XX11  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  X. 
1813 — continued. 

PAGE 

Increase  of  French  and  Decrease  of  English  Force — Reputation  of 
the  Majorca  Division — Death  of  Honourable  Colonel  Cadogan — 
Lord  William  Bentinck  supersedes  Sir  John  Murray — General 
Whittingham  covers  the  Retreat  from  Tarragona — Effected 
without  Loss — Whittingham  exceptionally  favoured  by  Lord 
Wellington — An  Order  more  flattering  than  agreeable — Cavalry 
unshod  for  want  of  Money — A  German  Aide-de-Camp — Oflicial 
Jealousies  and  Persecutions — General  Whittingham's  Resig- 
nation of  Command — His  Reasons  for  resigning — Account  of 
passing  the  Ebro — A  drunken  Commander — The  French  murder 
Colonel  O'Reilly — Retaliation  by  the  Spaniards — Great  Evils 
require  strong  Remedies — Magazines  filled  in  a  Week — Lord 
Wellington  feels  the  utmost  Concern  at  General  Whittingham's 
Resignation — Withholds  his  Papers  till  he  shall  hear  again — 
Gives  him  a  large  Command  of  Cavalry — The  Glory  and  Duty 
of  obeying  Wellington — State  of  Spanish  Cavalry — Hazardous 
Alternative — A  fraternal  Epanchement  de  Cceur — Training  of 
Spanish  Cavalry  —  Colonel  Torrens's  Letter  to  Mr.  Davis  — 
Routine  carried  too  far — Lord  Wellington  resigns  the  Command 
of  the  Spanish  Army — Improvement  of  Spanish  Cavalry — A 
disappointing  Peace  ......         199 — 227 

CHAPTER  XL 

1814. 

Spanish  Promotions — A  Prayer  not  heard — Lord  Wellington's 
Fears  regarding  Spain — Reception  of  Ferdinand  VIL  at  Sara- 
gossa — A  triumphant  Entry — Constitution  unpopular  in  Spain 
— The  King  requests  Gen.  W.  to  accompany  him  to  Valencia — 
The  royal  Present — Arrests — '  The  Majesty  that  doth  hedge  a 
King'  —  The  King  and  Don  Carlos's  flattering  Request— TAe 
Duke's  Testimony  to  the  Merits  and  Services  of  General  Whit- 
tingham— His  Conversation  with  the  Duke — Unpopularity  of 
King  Ferdinand  in  England— Appointed  Aide-de-  Camp  to  the 
Prince  Regent — Promotion  to  Lieut.-General  in  Spain — Sir 
John  Murray's  Court-martial — Sir  Henry  Wellesley  recommends 
General  Whittingham  to  Viscount  Castlereagh — The  Earl  of 
Fife's  Letter —  Marshal  Suchet's  Opinion  of  Whittingham— 
Inquisition  established  in  Spain — Spanish  Finances — Sir  John 
Murray's  Trial— Unlucky  *Buts  '-General  Mina's  RebelUon— 


CONTENTS,  XXlll 

PAGE 

Eecollections  of  King  Ferdinand — Triumphal  royal  Eoute — 
The  King  and  the  Constitution — Royal  Thanks — General  Whit- 
tingham  commanded  to  continue  with  His  Majesty — General 
Zayas  sounds  General  Whittingham — His  Opinion  not  approved 
— Arrests — March  on  Madrid — Cavalry  Field-day — Lieutenant- 
Generalship  conferred  by  the  King — Ministry  of  War  offered — 
Declined  after  reference — Takes  Leave  of  the  King  and  Don 
Antonio 228—248 

CHAPTER  XH. 

1815-1819. 

Sir  John  Murray's  Trial — Sentence  of  Admonishment  not  carried 
out — An  absurd  Parliamentary  Calumny — A  Duel  prevented  by 
the  Speaker — Quarrel  adjusted — Colonel  Campbell's  Letter  from 
Madrid — His  Description  of  the  Anglo- Spanish  Officers — Gen. 
Whittingham's  Appointment  in  the  Spanish  Army — Failed  to 
obtain  Employ  with   British    Troops — Want  of  Rank  in   the 
British  Army — The    secret  Dispatch — Aristocratic  Nature  of 
Wellington — Commissionership  with  Austrian  Army   declined 
— The  Spanish  Offer  preferred — George  IV.'s  Aide-de-Campship 
no  Sinecure — Duke  of  York's  Letter  to  Sir  Henry  Wellesley — 
Disappointing  Peace — Grand  Cross  of  San  Fernando — State  of 
Finances   in    Spain  —  General  Whittingham's  Memoir   to  the 
King  on  the  Slave  Trade — Why  unemployed  at  Madrid — Royal 
Favour — Russian  Influence — Mr.  B.  Frere's  Engagement — An 
expensive  Honour  for  Lady  Whittingham    declined  —  Legiti- 
mately  e:j5:ercised  Influence  —  Explanation    of    his    Conduct  to 
Lord    Castlereagh — Declines  all  Rewards  —  The  only  Favour 
asked  of  the  King  —  Government  declined  —  Services  unre- 
warded— Starvation  in  the  midst  of  Honours — Mr.  Vaughan's 
Recommendation  of  the  General  —  His  diplomatic   Services  to 
Mr.  Yaughan — Diplomatic  Services  to  Sir  Henry  Wellesley — 
Introduces  his  Nephew  to  the  best  Society — Marriage  of  Mr. 
B.   Frere  by  Proxy — Sir  H.  Wellesley's  Letter  to  the  Duke 
of  York — The  royal  Reply  —  Plenty  of  Praise,  no   Rewar-ds 
■ —  Troubles  in    Spain  —  Defence    of  the   King    a    Point   of 
Honour — Decline  of  English   and   Rise   of  Russian  Influence 
— Secret  Negociations   by    the    Russian    Minister  —  Death   of 
Mrs.  B.  Frere  —  General  Whittingham  leaves    Madrid  —  His 
Success  against  the  Slave   Trade  —  Chamois-hunting   in   the 
Pyrenees — Offered  the  Government  of  Dominica — Bids  Fare- 
well to  the  King  of  Spain — An  attentive  royal  Host — Opinion 
applauded  but  not  followed — The  Ambassador's  final  Testimony 


XXIV  CONTENTS. 

PAGB 

— Nothing  ask,  Nothing  have — General  Whittingham's  Letter  to 
Mr.  Murdoch — Fruitless  Mission  of  the  Count  de  Corres — Lord 
Castlereagh's  Testimony  of  Mr.  Davis — Baron  Hugel's  Descrip- 
tion of  the  West  Indies 249—284 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

1820-1822. 

General  Whittingham's  Arrival  in  Dominica — Restores  Order  and 
Concord — Anxious  to  obtain  Employment  in  India — His  System 
of  Government — Favours  the  Slave  Population — Testimonials 
both  from  the  Islanders  and  the  Proprietors  resident  in  England 
— Boon  to  the  White  Soldiers  by  Sir  Samford's  Recommendation 
— Wilberforce's  Letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta — His  Auto- 
graph Letter  to  Sir  Samford — George  IV.  and  the  Duke  of  York's 
Letters  of  Introduction — Sir  Henry  Torrens's  prophetical  Letter 
— A  most  delighttul  Personage  —  A  popular  Marquis — Uncle 
Toby  and  Corporal  Trim — A  Governor- General's  Smiles  and 
Frowns — ^Visit  to  Lord  Hastings  at  Barrackpore — His  Lordship's 
flattering  Confidence — How  Lord  Hastings  silenced  Ava's  King 
— Arrival  of  Sir  Edward  Paget,  the  new  Commander-in-Chief — 
Lord  Hastings'  great  Error 285 — 303 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

1823-1825. 

Death  of  the  Marquis  of  LondondeiTy — Death  of  Bishop  Middleton 
— Sir  Edward  Paget's  flattering  Proposal — India  should  be  ruled 
by  a  Viceroy — The  King  of  Oude — A  handsome  Commander- 
in-Chief —  Reorganization  of  Bengal  Army  indispensable  — 
Wretched  State  of  military  Means — Arduous  oflScial  Labours — 
Encouragement  to  Smokers — Sir  Edward  Paget's  sole  Source 
of  Comfort — The  Mutiny  at  Barrackpore — Sir  Samford's  Report 
of  the  Mutiny — His  subsequent  Defence  of  Sir  Edward  Paget — 
Death  of  Sir  Alexander  Campbell — The  Altei'  Ego  of  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief— Sir  Herbert  Taylor's  Letter  to  Sir  Samford — 
Illness  of  Sir  Edward  Paget  —  Advice  followed  Forty  Years 
later — Lord  Combermere's  Arrival  —  First  Impressions  of  his 
Lordship — Character  of  Sir  Edward  Paget — Parting  Exchange 
of  Presents — The  Hookah  and  the  '  Admiral ' — Lord  Comber- 
mere's Advance  to  besiege  Bhurtpore — Efficient  Preparations 
owing  to  Sir  Edward  Paget — Lord  Combermere's  temporary 
Coldness  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham        .         .         .         304—327 


CONTENTS.  XXV 

CHAPTER  XV. 

1826. 

PAGK 

Sir  Samford  receives  a  Contusion  at  the  Siege  of  Bhurtpore — His 
narrow  Escape — Extraordinary  Valour  of  Lieut.  Caine. — Defence 
of  Sir  Edward  Paget — An  invaluable  Intellect — A  satisfactory- 
Letter — A  Meerut  Scandal — A  Meerut  Duel — Coolness  under 
Fire  considered  criminal — Effects  of  a  masterly  Letter — Slow 
Posts  caused  ludicrous  liesults — 111  Health  of  the  Duke  of  York 
— Sir  Herbert  Taylor's  eulogistic  Letter  —  Defective  military 
Organization  in  India — Increase  of  European  Force  necessary 
from  the  Insubordination  of  Native  Soldiers — Sir  Edward  Paget's 
generous  Letter  to  Earl  Bathurst — How  the  Means  were  created 
for  taking  Bhurtpore.  .....         328 — 340 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

1827-1828. 

Two  Letters  of  same  Date  Ten  Thousand  Miles  apart — Sir  Edward 
Paget's  Congratulations — Death  of  the  Duke  of  York — Captain 
Seymour's  Death — Copy  of  Sir  Edward's  Letter  to  Lord  Bath- 
urst reaches  India — Aide-de-Camp  selected  for  his  Merit — 
Lord  Combermere  the  Guest  of  Sir  Samford — The  Talk  of  the 
Garrison — The  King  of  Oude — Lord  Combermere's  Friendliness 
— The  Reaction  of  a  generous  Mind — Lord  William  Bentinck's 
Appointment — Sir  Edward's  Present  of  genuine  Havannahs — 
Thanks  of  the  House  of  Commons — Sir  Edward's  generous  Dis- 
claimer of  Thanks — Willoughby  Cotton's  affectionate  Letter — A 
Model  of  what  a  Man  ought  to  be — Willoughby  Cotton's  Opinion 
of  Sir  Edward  Paget — The  principal  Promoter  of  the  Passage  of 
the  Douro  —  Lord  Combermere's  kind  Letter — Lord  William 
Bentinck's  Arrival — His  Request — Sir  Herbert  Taylor's  Opinion 
of  Sir  E.  Paget — The  Confidant  of  Three  successive  Kings — Lord 
Combermere's  Proof  of  Confidence — Sir  Edward's  Affection — Sir 
Samford's  greatest  Ambition      .....         341 — 359 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
1829-1830. 

On  route  to  meet  Lord  Combermere — Takes  final  Leave  of  Lord 
Combermere — Letter  of  Southey  to  Mr.  Hart  Davis — Great  Un- 
popularity of  Lord  William  Bentinck — Captain  Caine  A.D.C. 
and  the  Tigers — Delightful  Climate  of  Meerut — L^niversal  Har- 

b 


XXVI  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

lAony  at  Cawnpore  Station — Lord  Comb'ermere's  Letter — Mus- 
sourie  Hills — India  not  a  good  School  for  young  Soldiers — ^A 
Home  on  the  Hills — ^Lord  Hastings  versus  Lord  Amherst  as  a 
Financier — Accounts  mysteriously  withheld — Sir  Henry  Har- 
dinge's  Correspondence  with  Sir  Samford — Expected  Visits  from 
Lord  William  Bentinck  and  Lord  Dalhousie — Anxiety  for  a 
prolonged  Command 360 — 369 

CHAPTEK  XVHL 

1831. 

Visits  of  the  Earl  of  Dalhousie  and  of  Lord  William  Bentinck — 
The  Duke  of  Wellington's  repeated  Observation  to  Mr.  Hart 
Davis  regarding  General  Whittingham — Wholly  adopted  and 
rejoiced  in  by  Lord  William  Bentinck — The  Duke's  Declaration 
against  Eeform — The  Duke's  Loss  of  Office  injurious  to  Sir 
Samford — The  rival  Champagnes — A  candid  noble  Sportsman 
— Lieutenant  (now  Sir  Henry)  Durand — One  of  the  Duke's 
last  official  Acts  —  Lord  William  Bentinck's  opinion  of 
Daniel  O'Connell  —  His  Confidence  in  his  Countrymen  —  A 
characteristic  Letter  by  *  The  Duke ' — Lord  Hill's  Opmion  of 
Sir  Samford 370—379 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

1832. 

Mussourie — Chiefs  at  Simla,  with  their  respective  Staffs — Sir 
Edward  Barnes — Bad  Handwriting  no  Proof  of  Greatness — Lord 
William  on  the  Royal  Discretion — Sir  Edward  Barnes — The 
Commander-in-Chief's  official  Death  Warrant  —  The  Duke's 
Dictum  on  the  Disagreement  of  Indian  Chiefs — Lady  William 
Bentinck — Injustice  of  Napier's  earliest  Volumes — The  Non- 
publication  of  the  '  Wellington  Dispatches '  an  insufficient  Excuse 
— The  Barrosa  Injustice  —  Colonel  Caine's  Recollections — Sir 
Samford  writes  to  Sir  Edward  Paget  for  Redress  and  Satis- 
faction      380—384 

CHAPTER  XX. 

1833-1835. 

An  inauspicious  Day — Sir  Frederick  Adam,  Governor  of  Madras 
. — '  Les  absents  ont  toujours  tort ' — A  reckless  Rider — A  General 
calls  out  an  Ensign — An  unexpected  broad  Front —Cruel  only 


CONTENTS.  XXVll 

PAGE 

to  be  kind — Lord  William  Bentinck's  Comments  on  the  Duel 
—  The  Governor-General  appointed  Commander-in-Chief — 
Application  for  the  Military  Secretaryship — Sir  Samford's  Value 
to  Lord  William — A  very  hard  Case — Colonel  Napier's  State- 
ment too  favourably  judged  by  its  Victim — Sir  Sam  ford  unjust 
to  himself — An  official  Letter  on  broken  Promises — First  Meet- 
ing since  Childhood  of  Father  and  Son — The  Nilgherry  Hills — 
Sir  Edward  Paget  and  the  '  United  Service  Journal ' — Lord 
William's  Confidence  in  General  Whittingham  —  Babington 
Macaulay,  Member  of  Council — Sir  Samford's  Admiration  for 
the  Prussian  Military  System — Requests  Sir  Edward  to  be  his 
Second  in  a  Duel  with  Colonel  Napier — Sails  for  England  in 
the*Cura9oa' 385—403 

CHAPTER  XXL 

1835-1836. 

Mr.  Davis's  Letter  to  Sir  E.  Paget — Sir  Edward  declines  to  take 
Part  in  a  Duel  —  Sir  Rufane  Donkin's  decisive  Conduct  approved 
by  Sir  Edward  Paget — A  double  Breach  of  Faith — A  Question 
left  to  the  Judgment  of  the  Reader — Literviews  with  '  The  Duke ' 
and  Lord  Glenelg — Men  of  no  Party  apt  to  be  neglected — The 
Compiler  of  the  immortal  '  Dispatches '  consults  Sir  Samford — 
Lord  Auckland's  Invitation — His  Lordship's  Notes  to  Sir  Sam- 
ford  —  The  Hon.  Admiral  Fleeming  —  Lord  Elphinstone  — 
Lord  William  Bentinck's  Dinner  to  Lord  Auckland  —  Lord 
George  Bentinck — Royal  Presentation — The  King's  Questions 
— William  IV. 's  flattering  Finale — Sir  H.  Taylor's  Letter  on 
the  Death  of  Sir  William  Knighton — The  Duke  of  Wellington 
on  the  same  Subject — Sir  Samford  Whittingham's  Reply  to  his 
Grace — Sir  Edward  Paget's  Farewell — Lord  William  Bentinck's 
Farewell — His  Lordship's  Philosophy — Correspondence  between 
Sir  Samford  and  Lord  Palmerston — Portsmouth  Hospitalities — 
Embarkation 404—425 


CHAPTER  XXIL 

1837-1839. 

Sir  Samford's  Second  Service  in  the  West  Indies — Seeds  of  Dissen- 
sion sown  in  vain  at  Barbadoes — A  profitless  Command — Cares 
for  the  Health  and  Comfort  of  Soldiers — Mutiny  of  the  Black 
Troops  in  Trinidad — A  Roman  View  of  Military  Discipline — A 
fraternal  Difference — '  The  best  Inspecting-General  we  have  ' — 


XXviii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Sir  Charles  Paget's  flattering  Letter  to  Sir  Samford — Popularity 
at  the  Expense  of  Discipline  despised— Appointed  Colonel  of  the 
7 1st  Highland  Light  Infantry— Congratulations  of  Sir  John  Mac- 
donald  the  Adjutant- General— Sir  Charles  Paget's  '  Heart  and 
Soul  Remark'  to  his  Brother — An  invaluable  Inspecting- General 

Sir  De  Lacy  Evans — The  Hougomont  Hero — Dr.  Archibald 

Hair's  Congratulations — Lord  Glenelg's  Letter — Doctor  Cole- 
ridge, Bishop  of  Barbadoes — Sir  Samford's  Joy  at  the  Emanci- 
pation of  the  Negroes  —  Inspection  Visit  to  Dominica  —  Sir 
Samford's  Capacity  for  Labour  —  A  fiery  Interview  between 
Wellington  and  Picton  —  Yellow  Fever  in  its  last  Stage  — 
Satisfaction  of  Home  Authorities — Death  of  Admiral  Sir  Charles 
Paget  —  His  Relatives  advise  Sir  Samford  to  resign — Mr.  B. 
Frere's  Letter  to  Sir  Samtbrd  —  Appointed  Commander-in- 
Chief  at  Madras  —  Parting  Compliments  from  the  Governor 
and  Assembly — Departure  .         .  .         .         426 — 453 

CHAPTER  XXIIL 

1840-1841. 

Returns  to  England  for  the  last  time — Last  recorded  Meeting  of 
Two  old  Friends — Moore  and  Dickens — Duke  of  Wellington's 
kind  Note — Letter  to  Sir  John  Ilobhouse  on  Corporal  Punish- 
ment— Writes  his  '  Recollections  '  at  Sea — Arrives  at  Madras 
during  Lord  Elphinstone's  Absence — Lord  Elphinstone's  natural 
but  needless  Fears — Reinforcement  to  China — I^etter  from  Lord 
Burghersh — Letter  to  the  Hon.  W.  G.  Osborne — Sir  Charles 
Felix  Smith's  eulogistic  Letter — A  true  Prophet  on  Indian  Affairs 
— Sir  Samford  recommends  Rapidity  of  Military  Movements — A 
be-jewelled  Rajah — An  unworthy  Englishman — Evil  Effects  of 
the  West  Indies — Sir  Harry  Smith's  spontaneous  Letter  to  Sir 
Samford — Evil  Results  of  paternal  Prejudices — Letter  from  the 
Bishop  of  Madras — Sir  Samford's  Loyalty  to  the  Government — 
Correspondence  about  the  '  Wellington  Dispatches  '  —  Sir  Sam- 
ford's Letter  to  Colonel  Gurwood — Sir  Samford's  last  Letters — 
His  sudden  Death — Lord  Fitzroy  Somerset's  Letter  to  the  Editor 
— The  Funeral 454—491 

APPENDICES 493—499 


A   MEMOIR 

OF 

SIR    S.   F.   WHITTINGHAM. 

CHAPTEE  I. 

1772-1805. 

UIPFICTJLTT  IN  TRACING  THE  FAMILY  ANTECEDENTS — WILLIAM  WHIT- 
TINGHAM  OF  BRISTOL — MISS  EICHARDSON — SAMUEL  FORD  CHANGED  TO 
SAMFORD — HE  WOULD  BE  A  SOLDIER — OLD  ME,  WHITTINGHAM  OBJECTS 
TO  HIS  son's  ENTERING  THE  ARMY — SAMFORD  PROCEEDS  TO  SPAIN— 
THE  RULING  PASSION — DEATH  OF  HIS  FATHER — RETURNS  HOME — GA- 
ZETTED ENSIGN — LIEUTENANCY  IN  1ST  LIFE  GUARDS — DISADVANTAGE  OF 
TARDY  ENTRANCE  TO  THE  ARMY — HIGH  WYCOMBE  COLLEGE — SIXTEEN 
HOURS  A  DAY  STUDY — MR.  THOMAS  MURDOCH — WILLIAM  PITT's  SECRET 
MISSION — -NOTE  OF    HON.  W.  ELIOT — LISBON — ROGERS  AND   RICHARDSON 

— MR.  Pitt's  thanks — his  death— the  13th  light  dragoons — early 

PROMOTION  OF  THE  HON.  EDWARD  PAGET,  THE  FUTURE  FRIEND  OF 
SAMFORD   WHITTINGHAM. 

For  more  than  sixty  years  the  subject  of  this  Memoir  and 
his  sons  have  passed  the  best  part  of  their  Hves  in  the 
pubHc  service  of  their  country,  in  various  parts  of  the 
world,  and  without  a  settled  habitation.  Owing  to  this 
fact,  to  the  local  changes  in  his  native  town,  and  to  the 
circumstance  that  all  the  early  contemporaries  of  Sir 
Samford  Whittingham  have  long  since  departed  this  hfe, 
it  is  no  easy  matter  to  trace  in  accurate  detail  the  antece- 
dents of  the  family.  Nor  is  this  necessary  in  a  case  where 
the  distinction  gained  by  personal  merit,  unaided  by  aris- 
tocratic connections,  is  one  of  the  chief  justifications  for 

B 


2       •  MEMOIli   or   SIR  JS.    F.    WHITTINGIIAM. 

holding  up  as  a  useful  example  to  others  the  career  of  a 
military  officer. 

The  father  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  was  a  respec- 
table citizen  of  the  ancient  and  honourable  city  of  Bristol. 
Mr.  William  Whittingham  appears  to  have  retired  from 
business,  with  an  independent,  though  not  large,  fortune, 
and  thenceforward  to  have  lived  on  his  means  as  a  gentle- 
man in  his  native  city.  He  had  early  married  a  young 
lady,  who  lived  in  the  neighbourhood,  who  was  of  War- 
wickshire extraction,  and  who  was  called  '  the  beautiful 
Miss  Eichardson.'  They  had  three  children.  The  eldest, 
a  girl,  Sarah,  married  in  1789  Eichard  Hart  Davis,  a  pros- 
perous merchant  in  the  Spanish  wool  trade,  who,  in  1806, 
became  member  for  Colchester,  and  in  1812  was  returned 
for  his  native  city  of  Bristol  (which  he  represented  in  six 
successive  Parliaments),  and  was  succeeded  at  Colchester 
by  his  eldest  son.  Hart  Davis,  afterwards  Deputy  Chairman 
of  the  Board  of  Excise. 

The  third  child,  James,  eventually  obtained  a  small  post 
under  Government.  The  elder  of  the  two  sons,  Samuel 
Ford,  the  subject  of  this  work,  was  born  on  the  29th 
January,  1772.  When  he  grew  up,  his  father  desired  to 
train  him  to  the  law,  in  its  less  brilliant  but  more  pro- 
bably remunerative  branch;  but  his  son  revolted  at  the 
very  idea.  From  the  first  he  was  resolutely  determined  to 
be  a  soldier  ;  and  nature  had  fitted  him  for  the  profession 
of  arms. 

Tall  and  broad-shouldered,  with  a  fine  figure,  and  an 
excellent  constitution,  he  possessed  an  open  fearless  dis- 
position, and  an  enthusiastic  impetuosity,  with  much  am- 
bition, all  tempered  by  the  most  generous  and  chivalrous 
feelings.  In  addition  to  this,  Samford  (for  into  that  one 
word  the  names  Samuel  Ford  were  soon  contracted  by 
himself  and  his  friends)  possessed  much  natural  ability,  very 
gi-eat  energy,  and  a  truly  wonderful  power  of  application. 
A  bright  and  winning  smile,  a  large  and  powerful  fore- 


HIS  PERSONAL  APPEARANCE  AND  CHARACTER.      3 

head,  neutralized  the  irregularity  of  his  features,  and, 
coupled  with  his  strong  and  commanding  figure,  formed 
a  prepossessing  exterior,  which  manners,  always  allowed 
to  be  singularly  charming,  rendered  very  attractive  even 
to  strangers,  and  completely  fascinating  to  relatives  and 
friends.*  His  respectful  and  disinterested  deference  and 
attentions  to  the  fairer  half  of  the  creation  was  ever  one  of 
his  most  striking  characteristics  ;  and  he  truly  was  the 
knight  without  fear  and  without  reproach.  His  natural  im- 
petuosity was  calculated  to  make  great  friends  or  great 
enemies.  If  in  his  career  the  former  greatly  prepon- 
derated ;  if  the  latter  were  indeed  very  rare,  as  is  believed 
to  have  been  the  case ;  this  must  be  attributed  to  those 
winning  qualities,  that  never  lost  a  friend,  but  often  won 
over  an  enemy.  But  his  father  would  not  hear  of  his  en- 
tering the  army ;  and  his  filial  piety  was  such  that  he  gave 
up  the  cherished  object  of  his  fife  till  he  became  his  own 
master. f  He  even  allowed  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Hart 
Davis,  to  persuade  him  to  give  a  trial  to  the  wool  trade,  so 
far  as  to  agree  to  travel  into  Spain,  and  visit  the  connec- 
tions at  Bilbao  of  the  Bristol  House.  The  desire  to  travel 
and  see  the  world  attracted  him.  He  proceeded  to 
Spain ;  there,  with  his  wonted  application  and  energy,  he 
speedily  acquired  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  Spanish  lan- 

*  One  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham's  nieces  thus  describes  her  uncle's 
appearance  : — ^  If  by  the  word  handsome  is  simply  meant  beauty  of  feature 
and  profile,  it  does  not  apply  to  him.  But  if  eyes  of  matchless  brilliancy, 
and  the  whole  heart  and  soul  animating  a  countenance  beaming  with  talent 
and  affection,  be  the  test,  then  his  countenance  was  eminently  fascinating 
and  delightful  to  look  upon  ;  as  were  his  manners  and  powers  of  conversa- 
tion, by  which  he  won  the  hearts  of  all  who  approached  him.' 

To  this  may  be  added  another  peculiarity,  which  may  interest  the  reader. 
One  of  the  medical  officers  called  in  when  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  was 
dying  afterwards  declared  that  he  had  '  the  largest  forehead  he  had  ever 
seen.' 

t  According  to  the  Bristol  Times  (in  its  review  of  this  work)  Samford 
Whittingham  was  one  of  the  mounted  volunteers  composed  of  the  richer 
citizens,  who  were  enrolled  in  Bristol  in  1797,  on  a  threatened  French  inva- 
sion.   No  doubt  this  episode  increased  his  warlike  tendencies. 

b2 


4  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.    F.    WHITTINGHAM. 

guage  and  people.  But  he  preferred  the  society  of  the 
military  to  that  of  the  merchants,  and  the  ruling  passion 
only  became  stronger  and  firmer  than  ever. 

Mr.  William  Whittingham  died  at  Earl's  Mead,  Bristol, 
on  the  12th  September,  1801,  aged  sixty ;  a  man  much  re- 
spected by  his  relatives  and  acquaintances.  The  part  of 
the  town  in  which  he  lived  has  undergone  such  changes 
as  to  be  no  longer  recognizable,  thus  adding  to  the  diffi- 
culties of  all  researches  into  the  past. 

By  his  father's  death,  Samford  Whittingham  became  in- 
dependent. He  did  not,  however,  immediately  return  to 
England  ;  probably  waiting  till  he  should  learn  if  there 
were  any  prospect  of  his  being  at  length  able  to  obtain  a 
commission  in  the  army.  Fortunately  the  rule  that  pre 
vented  anyone  above  twenty-six  years  of  age  from  obtain- 
ing a  commission  did  not  then  exist.  But  it  is  probable 
that  the  further  unfortunate  delay  was  occasioned  by  his 
respect  for  his  mother,  who  might  have  been  shocked  at  the 
earnest  wishes  of  the  father  being  disregarded  too  soon 
after  his  death.  The  son  appears  to  have  remained 
abroad  till  he  received  the  news  of  his  approaching  ap- 
pointment. At  all  events  it  was  not  till  the  3rd  of  January, 
1803,  that  he  arrived  at  the  house  of  his  widowed 
mother,  in  College  Green,  Bristol ;  and  on  the  20th  of  the 
same  month  he  was  gazetted  to  an  ensigncy.  But  he  was 
bent  on  being  a  cavalry  officer,  and  immediately  pro- 
ceeded to  London  to  negotiate  the  exchange. 

The  following  fragment  of  a  letter  (which  must  have 
been  written  from  London  about  the  middle  of  February 
1803,  as  it  is  recorded  that  he  left  the  Green  on  the  3rd 
of  that  month)  was  carefully  preserved  by  his  mother,  and 
found  in  her  pocket-book,  after  her  death  : — 

'My  dearest  Mother, — I  have  almost  concluded  the 
business  of  the  Lieutenancy  in  the  [1st]  Life  Guards. 
Lord  Harrington,  the  Colonel,  is  to  give  me  a  positive 


SIXTEEN    HOURS   A   DAY   STUDY.  5 

answer  on  Monday ;  and  Mr.  Greenwood  *  has  no  doubt  it 
will  be  favourable.  The  price  is  2,000  guineas  ;  but  out 
of  this  will  be  deducted  the  price  I  have  already  paid  for 
the  Ensigncy,  &c.' 

Samford  Whittingham  was  now  thirty-one  years  of  age. 
At  that  period,  men  usually  obtained  their  first  commis- 
sions at  sixteen  or  earlier.  He  had  thus  lost  at  least 
fifteen  years,  and  started  in  the  army  at  a  most  lamentable 
disadvantage.  If  such  a  thing  were  possible  now,  it  would 
be  sufficiently  disadvantageous.  But  sixty  years  ago  it 
was  worse.  It  is  true  that,  thanks  to  that  '  Soldier's 
Friend,'  the  Duke  of  York,  the  days  were  past  in  which 
English  colonels  might  be  seen  in  long  clothes,  or  Scotch 
majors  be  heard  '  greeting  for  their  porridge.'  But  the 
road  to  promotion  for  the  noble  and  wealthy  was  still 
w^onderfuUy  quick;  and  many  men  scarcely  out  of  their 
teens  were  often  found  in  actual  command  of  regiments. 
Mr.  William  Whittingham's  obstinacy  had  done  irrepa- 
rable injury  to  his  son,  rendering  it  almost  impossible  for 
him  to  expect  to  live  to  attain  to  the  higher  posts  and 
rewards  of  the  profession  of  arms,  especially  as  he  had 
nothing  but  his  own  merit  to  rely  on  in  the  struggle. 

He  did  not  return  to  Bristol,  but  proceeded  imme- 
diately to  the  military  college,  then  situated  at  High 
Wycombe.  Although  in  those  days  science  was  not  much 
encouraged  in  the  army  yet  the  zealous  soldier  was  deter- 
mined thoroughly  to  fit  himself  for  the  duties  which  he 
had  undertaken  to  perform.  He  determined  to  endeavour 
to  make  up  for  lost  time  by  extra  exertions.  It  is  re- 
corded that,  whilst  at  college,  he  lived  on  vegetable  diet, 
in  order  to  be  able  to  study  sixteen  hours  a  day  !  And  his 
constitution  was  able  to  bear  for  about  a  year  and  a  half 
this  trying  strain  upon  its  powers.     He  left  an  impression 

*  The  firm  now   called  Messrs.   Cox  and  Co.^  the  ^;ar  excellmce  Army 
Agents  of  England. 


6  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.    F.    WHITTINGIIAM. 

at  High  Wycombe,  which,  in  the  memory  of  more  than 
one  professor,  was  transmitted  to  Sandhurst  College,  when 
the  scholastic  locality  was  changed ;  and  of  which  im- 
pression, the  editor  was  an  ear-witness  nearly  thirty 
years  later. 

Samford  Whittingham  appears  to  have  joined  the  1st 
Life  Guards  in  London  towards  the  latter  part  of  1804. 
He  had  made,  probably  in  Portugal,  the  acquaintance  of 
Mr.  Thomas  Murdoch,  a  wealthy  and  influential  wine 
merchant.  This  gentleman  appears  to  have  been  the 
means  of  introducing  Lieutenant  Whittingham  to  the 
notice  of  the  Eight  Honourable  William  Pitt,  the  Premier^ 
who  was  then  projecting  an  expedition  against  the  Spanish 
South  American  colonies,  and  was  desirous  to  secure  for 
that  purpose  the  services  of  a  certain  Englishman,  named 
Captain  Kogers,  then  in  Madrid,  in  the  service  of  Spain. 
Eogers  was  probably  the  captain  of  an  English  merchant 
ship,  though  this  is  a  matter  of  conjecture  only.  The 
Life-Guardsman's  knowledge  of  Spain  and  of  the  language, 
and  his  High  Wycombe  education  no  doubt  w^ere  con- 
sidered good  qualifications  for  the  negotiation  in  question : 
and  he  was  of  course  delighted  to  be  of  service  to  the 
great  Minister  of  the  day. 

As  Mr.  Pitt  entered  into  his  last  period  of  office  in  May 
1804,  and  as  Lieutenant  Whittingham  belonged  to  the 
1st  Life  Guards  only  from  the  10th  March,  1803,  to  the 
14th  February,  1805,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  filling  up 
that  part  of  the  date  of  the  following  note,  which  is  left 
blank  in  the  original : — 

*  Greenwich,  ISth  December'  [1804]. 

'  Dear  Sir, — ^Mr.  Pitt  will  be  glad  to  see  Mr.  Whitting- 
ham to-morrow  morning  at  any  time  he  will  call  and  send 
in  his  name.  The  sooner  he  calls  after  eleven  o'clock  the 
less  chance  there  will  be  of  his  being  kept  waiting. 


OBTAINS   THE   THANKS   OF   MR.    PITT.  7 

'  I  have  written,  by  his  direction,  for  leave  of  absence  to 
Lord  Harrington. 

'  Yours  faithfully, 

'Wm.  Eliot. 

'  Thomas  Murdoch,  Esquire, 
^  No.  1  Fitzroy  Square.' 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  above  note  was  written  by 
the  honourable  William  Eliot,  brother  to  the  first  Earl, 
and  afterwards  himself  the  second  Earl,  of  &t.  Germans. 
The  ensuing  correspondence  has  been  lost,  in  consequence 
of  the  box  in  which  it  was  deposited  in  the  care  of  Mr. 
Eichard  Hart  Davis  having  been  stolen  a  few  years  later. 
A  certain  Captain  Eichards  was,  it  appears,  employed 
by  Lieutenant  Whittingham  to  proceed  from  Lisbon  to 
Madrid  in  the  disguise  of  a  smuggler,  and  to  bring  over 
Captain  Eogers  to  England,  and  nothing  more  is  at  present 
known  of  the  transaction  itself.  As  regards  Lieutenant 
Whittingham,  he  obtained  the  thanks  of  Mr.  Pitt,  but 
declined  at  the  time  all  remuneration.  The  premature 
death  of  the  Minister,  on  the  23rd  January,  1806,  was 
one  of  Samford  Whittingham's  earliest  misfortunes,  pre- 
venting his  deriving  at  that  time  any  advantage,  either 
from  his  services  or  his  disinterestedness.  But  the  Ministry 
took  these  services,  amongst  others,  into  consideration 
when,  many  years  later,  a  small  pension  was  granted 
to  him. 

In  the  United  Service  Journal  for  April,  1841,,  this 
affair  with  Mr.  Pitt  is  thus  noticed  in  the  account  of  the 
services  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  : — 

'  In  1804,  Lieutenant  Whittingham,  at  the  desire  of 
Mr.  Pitt,  was  selected  to  proceed  to  Portugal  on  a  secret 
mission.  This  service  detained  him  in  that  country  about 
twelve  months,  and  during  his  residence  at  Lisbon,  he 
was  promoted  to  a  company  in  the  20th  Foot. 

'  Captain  Whittingham,  on  his  return  to  England,  was 
complimented  by  Mr.  Pitt  on  the  very  able  manner  in 


8  MEMom  OF  sm  s.  f.  whittingham. 

which  he  had  executed  the  commission  entrusted  to  him 
by  that  Minister ;  and  shortly  after  a  troop  in  the  13  th 
Light  Dragoons  becoming  vacant,  he  was  removed  into 
that  regiment/ 

The  article  from  which  the  above  was  taken  was  (there 
is  every  reason  to  believe)  written  by  Mr.  Hart  Davis, 
Junior,  late  Deputy  Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Excise,  who 
was  better  acquainted  than  any  person  then  living  with 
all  that  concerned  his  uncle,  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 
The  exchange  into  the  13th  Light  Dragoons  must  have 
cost  a  large  sum  of  money ;  but  the  amount  has  not  been 
recorded. 

In  that  same  year,  1805,  in  which  Samford  Whitting- 
ham was  promoted  to  be  captain,  his  future  greatest 
friend  and  patron — then  wholly  unknown  to  him,  and  two 
years  younger  than  himself — was  gazetted  a  Major- 
General.  This  was  the  honourable  Edward  Paget  (whose 
brother,  Lord  Paget,  afterwards  became  Marquis  of 
Anglesey),  of  whom  much  mention  will  be  made  in  the 
latter  half  of  this  volume. 


SECRET   EXPEDITION   TO    LIMA. 


CHAPTER  n. 

1806-1807. 

SECKET  EXPEDITION  "UNDER  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  ROBERT  CRAUFtTRD — 
CAPTAIN  WniTTINGHAM  EMBARKS  AT  PORTSMOUTH,  12TH  NOVEM  BER  1806 
— TOUCHES  AT  ST.  lAGO — MIDNIGHT   FREAK  OF  SOME   BRITISH  OFFICERS 

— GENEROSITr    OF    PORTUGUESE    GOVERNOR — A    WELL-KEPT    SECRET 

ARRIVAL  AT   THE   CAPE — HOW    THE   SECRET   WAS    DISCOVERED ARRIVAL 

AT  MONTEVIDEO — GENERAL  WHITELOCKE — ORDER  OF  BATTLE — LANDING 
NEAR  BARRAGAN — GENERAL  WHITELOCKE's  FLATTERING  OFFER  TO  CAP- 
TAIN WHITTINGHAM — WHY  DECLINED — GENERAL  WHITELOCKE's  ERRORS 
— QUESTION  OF  NOT  LOADING — CAPTAIN  WHITTINGHAM  SENT  TO  RE- 
CONNOITRE— CAPTAIN  WHITTINGHAM  VOLUNTEERS  TO  ENTER  THE  TOWN 
— HOW  HE  REACHED  THE  PLAZA  DE  LOS  TOROS — RETURNS  TO  HEAD- 
QUARTERS FOR  AID — VOLUNTEERS  AGAIN  TO  ENDEAVOUR  TO  JOIN  CRAU- 
FURD — JOINS  NICOLS  AND  TOLLY  AT  RESIDENCIA — PROOF  OP  CRAUFURD's 
SURRENDER — SUCCESSFUL  CHARGE  OF  MAJOR  NICOLS— CAPTAIN  WHIT- 
TINGHAM RETURNS  AGAIN  TO  HEAD-QUARTERS — SUSPENSION  OF  HOS- 
TILITIES— GENERAL  GOWER  DIFFERS  IN  OPINION  FROM  CAPTAIN  WHIT- 
TINGHAM—  PRELIMINARIES  OF  PEACE  —  A  DISGRACEFUL  TREATY  — 
GENERAL  LINIERS — LOSS  TO  ENGLAND  BY  THE  SURRENDER — THE  CIVIC 
COMPLIMENTS  TO  GENERAL  WHITELOCKE  —  CAPTAIN  CORMERO'S  INFOR- 
MATION REGARDING  THE  WEAKNESS  OF  THE  BUENOS  AYRES  GARRISON 
— DURABLE  FRIENDSHIPS  CONTRACTED  AT  BUENOS  AYRES  —  HENRY 
TORRENS  AND  THE  HONOURABLE  HENRY  CADOGAN — GENERAL  WHITE- 
LOCKE'S TRIAL — BRINGS  CAPTAIN  WHITTINGHAM  INTO  NOTICE — DUKE 
OF  KENT  BECOMES  HIS  PATRON — GENERAL  ROBERT  CRAUFURD's  TESTI- 
MONY  AND   THAT   OF   COLONEL   GORDON. 

Towards  the  close  of  1806,  when  the  secret  expedition 
against  Lima,  under  the  command  of  Brigadier-General 
Robert  Craufurd  was  organized,  Captain  Whittingham 
was  appointed  Deputy  Assistant  Quartermaster-General 
to  that  force.  Early  in  October,  he  joined  it  at  Ports- 
mouth, and  sailed  from  England  on  the  12th  November 
of  the  same  year.  From  the  day  of  his  embarkation  to 
that  of  his  return  to  England,  he — notwithstanding  his 
many  official  duties — kept  a  copious  journal,  which  com- 


10  .MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.    F.    WHITTINGHAM. 

pletely  filled  two  small  manuscript  volumes.  From  these 
alone  a  full  and  graphic  history  of  one  of  the  most  disas- 
trous expeditions,  that  England  ever  embarked  in,  might 
easily  be  written.  And  surely  with  profit :  for  the  study 
of  defeats,  by  teaching  us  how  to  avoid  them,  is  as  profit- 
able, though  not  as  agreeable,  as  the  study  of  victories  is 
to  teach  us  how  to  gain  them.  But  as  this  work  is  not  a 
history,  but  only  the  memoir  of  an  individual,  the  quota- 
tions from  these  voluminous  journals  will  be  limited  to 
such  matters  as  regard  the  character,  conduct,  and  for- 
tunes of  Captain  Whittingham,  although  to  do  this  clearly 
must  entail  the  narration  of  many  general  details  of  the 
expedition. 

The  fleet  and  convoy  touched  at  St.  lago,  the  capital  of 
the  Verde  Islands,  on  the  14th  December,  1806.  There 
Captain  Whittingham's  knowledge  of  languages  was  very 
useful  to  the  Brigadier-General,  in  official  matters,  and 
very  agreeable  to  the  donna  and  to  her  lovely  daughters 
at  whose  house  the  Captain  was  quartered  during  the  few 
days  the  fleet  remained  in  the  harbour.  As  the  Staflf 
Officer  of  the  force,  he  had  also  to  settle  a  serious  affair, 
the  result  of  the  wanton  midnight  freaks  of  some  wild 
British  officers,  who  had  finished  by  insulting  the  guard 
of  the  Governor  Don  Antonio  Continho.*  But  the  gene- 
rous Governor  was  satisfied  with  an  apology,  interceded 
warmly  in  favour  of  the  offenders,  and  finally  ended 
by  hospitably  entertaining  them  and  their  mediator  to 
dinner.  '  Sorry  I  am  to  say,'  says  the  journalist  about 
this  business,  '  I  never  saw  my  countrymen  appear  to  less 
advantage.' — 

On  the  11th  June  the  expedition  left  the  Islands.     On 

*  The  ring-leader  of  these  rioters  was  the  Hon.  Captain ,  who  was 

madly  determined  to  force  the  Governor  into  a  hag,  which  he  had  obtained 
for  the  purpose ;  and  he  was  with  difficulty  dissuaded  from  carrying  out  his 
scheme. 


ARRIVAL   AT   MONTEVIDEO.  11 

the  29tli,  it  passed  the  hne,  and  reached  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  on  the  15th  March.  The  secret  of  the  ex- 
pedition had  been  well  kept  even  from  the  Staff  Officer. 
But  fresh  instructions  received  at  the  Cape  caused  an 
entire  change  of  the  original  plan.  Meantime  the  stay 
at  the  Cape  was  enlivened  by  putting  the  troops  ashore 
for  some  days  ;  on  one  of  which  there  was  a  grand  re- 
view of  the  united  forces  under  Generals  Grey  and  Crau- 
furd.  The  second  of  the  two  following  extracts  shows 
the  penetration  of  the  writer  of  the  journal : — 

'  hth  April  [1807]. — The  gale  having  subsided  about 
half  past  four  in  the  morning,  we  got  under  way.  The 
weather  was  beautifully  serene,  and  a  few  hours  took  the 
whole  fleet  out  of  the  harbour.  In  the  evening  we  were 
becalmed.' 

'  1th  April. — Yesterday  evening  the  Admiral  [Murray] 
made  the  compass  signal  to  steer  north-west  during  the 
night.  This  has  decided  my  opinion  as  to  our  present 
destination :  we  are  certainly  going  to  St.  Helena,  and 
thence  to  Buenos  Ayres.' 

The  fleet  sighted  St.  Helena  on  the  19th  April.  On 
the  20th,  Captain  Whittingham  left  the  '  Warre '  transport 
to  take  the  orders  of  the  General,  who  was  on  board  the 
Admiral's  ship.  He  then  proceeded  ashore  to  call  on 
the  Governor,  with  whom  he  breakfasted ;  a  clever 
crotchety  man,  who  started  a  long  and  tedious  discussion 
in  the  vain  endeavour  to  prove  to  the  pupil  of  High 
Wycombe  the  value  of  some  very  doubtful  improvements 
in  gunnery.* 

On  the  25th,  the  fleet  and  transports  again  started  ; 
and  cast  anchor  near  Montevideo  on  the  13th  June, 
where  they  found  Sir  Samuel  Achmuty  (who  had  taken 
it  by  storm)  with  some  7,000  men.     General  Whitelocke 

*  The  whole  discussion  is  given  in  voluminous  detail  in  the  journal. 


12  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.    F.    WIIITTINGHAM 

i 

had  also  arrived  ;  and  now  Craufurd's  division  was  incor- 
porated with  the  rest,  and  Captain  Whittingham  lost  his 
Staff  post.  But  General  Whitelocke  appointed  him  his 
extra  aide-de-camp  without  delay,  and  ever  afterwards 
treated  him  with  kindness,  and  with  a  flattering  appre- 
ciation of  his  abilities.' 

'  16#/i  June.  ...  At  five,  we  were  going  to  sit  down 
to  dinner  at  General  Whitelocke's,  when  a  flag  of  truce 
arrived.  It  proved  to  be  an  aide-de-camp  of  General 
Liniers,  a  captain  of  hussars,  named  Don  Pedro  Joseph 
de  Pendo.  He  came  to  propose  an  exchange  of  pri- 
soners .  .  .  General  Whitelocke  rejected  the  proposal 
altogether.  He  [the  captain]  was  invited  to  dinner  ;  and 
in  the  course  of  the  evening,  the  General  desired  him 
to  say  to  General  Liniers  that  he  could  not,  after  the 
abusive  letters  which  had  been  addressed  to  his  prede- 
cessor [Sir  Samuel  Achmuty],  enter  into  any  correspond- 
ence whatever.' 

On  the  18th  June,  the  order  of  battle  was  given  out  to 
the  troops  as  follows  : — 

In  the  first  line  Brigadier-General  Achmuty  was  to 
command  the  left  Brigade,  consisting  of  the  5th,  87th,  and 
28th  Eegiments  of  Foot ;  Brigadier-General  Lumley  was 
given  the  command  of  the  centre,  composed  of  the  36th 
and  88th  Foot,  and  a  part  of  the  17th  Light  Dragoons  dis- 
mounted. To  the  right  Brigade,  commanded  by  Briga- 
dier-General Craufurd,  were  attached  the  95th  Eegiment, 
and  the  Light  Battalion. 

The  right  of  the  first  line  was  to  be  supported  by  two 
batteries  of  artillery  of  six  guns  each. 

The  second  line,  or  reserve,  was  supported  on  its  left 
flank  by  a  six-gun  battery.  Then  came,  successively,  the 
9th  Light  Dragoons  on  foot,  the  45tli  and  40th  Eegi- 
ments, the  6th  Dragoon  Guards  on  foot,  and  finally  the 
remainder  of  the  17th  Lig^t  Dragoons  mounted. 

The  whole  force  considerably  exceeded  10,000  officers, 


A    FLATTERING    OFFEE,   DECLINED.  13 

non-commissioned  officers,  and  men,  from  which  might  be 
deducted  about  400  sick,  and  less  than  50  absent. 

Tlie  embarkation  at  Montevideo  was  successfully  carried 
out ;  and  the  landing,  '  a  little  to  the  westward  of  Barra- 
gan,'  which  began  at  ten  a.m.  on  the  28th  June,  was 
effected  without  opposition. 

Previous  to  leaving  Montevideo  (where  Colonel  Brown 
was  left  in  command).  General  Whitelocke  made  an  offer 
to  Captain  Whittingham,  which,  however  kindly  intended, 
and  however  flattering,  yet  proved  how  little  he  understood 
the  character  of  his  aide-de-camp.  The  journal  records  : 
— '  He  [the  General]  began  by  saying  that,  if  my  views  in 
this  country  were  those  of  pleasure  and  amusement,  he 
feared  that  what  he  had  to  propose  would  not  merit  my 
approbation ;  but  that,  if,  on  the  contrary,  my  desires  and 
wishes  were  to  render  myself  useful  to  my  country,  and  to 
make  unto  myself  a  name,  he  thought  he  had  an  opportu- 
nity of  placing  me  in  a  situation  of  honour,  of  emolument, 
and  of  much  utility  to  the  public  good.' 

'  In  a  word,  he  wished  to  make  me  a  sort  of  command- 
ant, and  to  place  under  my  care  the  police  of  Buenos  Ayres, 
and  of  all  the  surrounding  country,  giving  me  the  direction 
and  control  of  all  the  force,  whether  native  or  English,  that 
should  be  employed  for  that  purpose.  He  did  not  entirely 
explain  himself  on  this  head,  but  as  far  as  I  understood  him, 
he  intended  to  appoint  one  officer  under  me,  and  he  wished 
me  to  recommend  another.  Under  the  direction  of  the 
first  the  military  branch  might  be  immediately  placed; 
under  the  orders  of  the  second,  the  civil  branch ;  both,  of 
course,  to  be  immediately  under  my  command.  Soon  after- 
wards Major-General  Gower  repeated  nearly  the  same  offer. 
I  told  them  both  and  more  particularly  General  White- 
locke, that  I  could  not  sufficiently  express  my  gratitude 
for  the  confidence  with  which  he  was  pleased  to  honour 
me  ;  that  T  felt  highly  honoured  by  the  offer  he  had 
made  me :  but  that,  as  he  had  condescended  to  enquire 


14  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

into  my  views  and  wislies  as  a  soldier,  I  hoped  he  would 
excuse  tlie  liberty  I  took  in  stating  that,  if  the  employ- 
ment he  intended  to  confer  on  me  must  of  necessity 
confine  me  to  Buenos  Ayres,  and  prevent  my  following 
the  army  to  the  field,  I  should  feel  myself  called  upon  to 
refuse  it,  if  left  by  him  a  right  of  election.  "  For,  sir," 
I  added,  "  I  would  rather  be  a  common  hussar  in  the 
outposts  in  an  active  campaign  than  enjoy  the  most 
honourable  and  the  most  lucrative  situation  which  should 
deprive  me  of  the  chance  of  seeing  service."  I  had  the 
satisfaction  of  finding  my  sentiments  were  not  disap- 
proved of.' 

In  his  journal  of  the  3rd  July,  Captain  Whittingham 
narrates  the  first  of  the  most  important  faults  made  by 
his  kind  but  inefficient  commander : — '  It  appeared  that 
General  Gower  had  passed  the  Eichuelo  [rivulet]  the 
day  before  at  the  Paso  Chico,  had  fallen  in  with  the 
enemy's  advanced  guard  at  the  Miserere,  and  had  taken 
nine  pieces  of  cannon  and  a  howitzer.  This  trifling  ad- 
vantage unfortunately  changed  the  original  plan  of  at- 
tack ;  which  was  to  have  gained  the  north-west  side  of 
the  town,  and  to  have  taken  up  a  position  from  the 
Eicoleta  to  the  Plaza  de  los  Toros.  From  this  com- 
manding situation  it  would  have  been  in  the  General's 
power  to  have  laid  the  town  in  ashes,  or  to  have  dictated 
to  the  inhabitants  the  terms  of  a  capitulation.  It  was 
now  determined  to  attack  the  town  fi:om  our  present 
position,  which  was  behind  it,  upon  a  line  nearly  parallel 
to  the  bank  of  the  river.' 

'  ^th  July. — I  was  sent  with  a  flag  of  truce  to  ofier 
terms  to  General  Liniers.  They  were  refused,  and  the 
attack  was  ordered  for  the  next  day.' 

He  then  gives  in  his  journal  all  the  orders  for  the 
attack  in  great  detail.  The  chief  mistake  was  the  division 
of  the  troops  into  many  separate  columns,  too  distant  to 
support  each  other,  and  having  to  penetrate  narrow  streets, 


GENEEAL   WIIITELOCKE'S   ERRORS.  15 

the  windows  and  housetops  of  which  were  crowded  with 
armed  mihtiamen.  The  troops  were  ordered  to  ad- 
vance to  the  proposed  point  of  union  or  post  which  they 
were  to  reach,  not  only  without  firing,  but  also  un- 
loaded. The  wisdom  of  the  latter  part  of  this  order  at 
least  may  be  doubted,  but  the  General  was  acquitted  at 
his  court-martial  of  all  blame  in  this  respect;  and  this 
acquittal  of  part  of  one  charge  was  the  only  exception  to 
the  universal  verdict  of  guilty,  on  four  charges.  The 
words  of  the  order  in  question  were  '  The  whole  to  he  un- 
loaded^ and  no  firing  to  he  admitted  on  any  account ; '  an 
order  not  calculated  to  encourage  troops  exposed  to  mur- 
derous street-firing,  and  not  sanctioned  by  the  example  of 
more  recent  times  in  Paris  and  elsewhere. 

'  bth  July. — The  signal  agreed  upon  was  made  at  thirty- 
five  minutes  past  six.  The  Commander-in-Chief  was 
stationed  in  the  rear  of  one  of  the  centre  streets.  The 
fire  was  very  heavy,  but  more  particularly  on  the  left.  In 
consequence  of  having  observed  some  considerable  bodies 
of  the  enemy's  cavalry  hovering  about,  I  was  sent  to 
reconnoitre  them  with  ten  dragoons  and  a  small  body  of 
infantry.  I  was  joined  soon  after  by  Colonel  Torrens, 
and  we  pushed  our  reconnoissance  to  some  miles  distance. 
However,  in  spite  of  every  stratagem  we  could  make  use 
of,  we  could  never  get  the  enemy  to  stand  the  charge, 
though  their  numbers  exceeded  at  one  time  200.  The 
dragoons  came  up  with  them  once,  and  despatched  ^yq 
in  less  than  as  many  minutes.  On  our  return  we  found 
that  the  Carabineers  had  advanced  up  the  centre  street  to 
take  some  guns,  and  that  they  had  behaved  with  great  gal- 
lantry, though  they  had  not  succeeded.  Colonel  Kington 
was  wounded  and  taken  prisoner,  and  Captain  Burril 
killed.  The  9th  Dragoons  had  got  into  much  confusion, 
and  had  lost  some  men.  No  account  whatever  had  been 
received  from  either  wing,  and  all  communication  with 
the  right  and  left  was  entirely  cut  off.     A  little  before 


16  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGIIAM. 

three  o'clock,  General  Whitelocke  began  to  be  uneasy  at 
having  heard  nothing  from  Sir  Samuel  Achmutyj  or  from 
Brigadier-General  [Eobert]  Craufurd,  and  [General  White- 
locke] said  that,  although  it  was  a  service  that  he  would 
not  press  upon  any  man,  yet  he  should  feel  himself  infi- 
nitely obliged  to  any  of  his  staff'  who  would  undertake  to 
penetrate  to  the  Plaza  de  los  Toros,  and  find  out  the  state 
of  Sir  Samuel  [Achmuty]  and  his  Brigade.  I  immediately 
said  I  should  be  most  happy  to  have  an  opportunity  of 
rendering  myself  useful,  and  at  three  o'clock  I  marched  off" 
with  a  sergeant  and  ten  dragoons,  and  thirty  infantry.  I 
neglected  no  precaution  as  to  the  proper  distribution  of 
my  little  force.  The  whole  country  about  Buenos  Ayres 
is  intersected  with  hedges.  I  divided  the  infantry  into 
two  separate  bodies,  to  act  as  flankers,  one  on  each  side 
of  the  road ;  and  I  had,  moreover,  a  corporal  and  two 
mounted  dragoons  as  an  advanced  guard,  and  two  private 
dragoons  at  some  distance  as  a  rear  guard.  I  had  good 
reason  to  be  satisfied  with  having  taken  these  necessary 
precautions,  for  our  whole  route  was  one  continual  skir- 
mish, and  the  enemy  was  constantly  on  the  watch  to  sur- 
prise us. 

'  Captain  John  Brown,  J.D.  and  A.D.C.,  joined  me,  as 
a  volunteer.  My  directions  for  finding  the  Plaza  de  los 
Toros  were  to  keep  the  Eicoleta  on  my  left,  and  whenever 
this  church  should  bear  nearly  west,  the  Plaza  de  los 
Toros  would  be  nearly  east.  Notwithstanding,  when  we 
got  within  about  a  mile,  being  desirous  to  come  to  it  by 
the  most  private  road,  I  ordered  the  flankers,  instead  of 
firing  upon  the  next  armed  people  they  should  meet  with, 
to  endeavour  to  make  tliem  prisoners.  They  presently 
brought  me  three,  and  I  gave  them  to  understand  that,  if 
they  wished  to  avoid  the  gallows,  they  must  take  care  to 
conduct  me  safely  to  the  Plaza  de  los  Toros ;  where,  in 
fact,  I  arrived  after  a  marcli  of  one  hour  and  a  half 

'  I  found  Sir  Samuel  Achmuty  in  complete  possession  of 


RETURNS   TO    HEAD-QUARTERS   FOR   AID.  17 

the  Plaza  de  los  Toros.  He  had  taken  thirty-three  pieces 
of  cannon,  an  immense  quantity  of  ammunition,  and  607 
prisoners.  The  slaughter  of  the  enemy  had  been  con- 
siderable. Sir  Samuel  had  under  his  command  ...  his 
own  brigade,  which  had  suffered  considerably,  and  the 
36th  Eegiment,  which  had  joined  him,  under  General 
Lumley.  The  88th  Eegiment,  which  formed  part  of 
General  Lumley's  brigade,  was  missing.  The  communica- 
tion with  the  navy  was  opened.  Sir  Samuel  expressed 
his  desire  that  the  Commander-in-Chief  should,  if  he 
thought  proper,  effect  a  junction  with  him  without  loss  of 
time  with  all  the  force  [which]  he  could  draw  from  the 
centre.  But,  at  all  events,  he  requested  that  some  artil- 
lerymen might  be  sent  immediately  to  work  the  guns 
which  had  fallen  into  his  possession.  As  it  appeared  of 
importance  to  communicate  Sir  Samuel's  report  as  soon 
as  possible  to  the  Commander-in-Chief,  I  left  the  infantry 
at  the  Plaza  de  los  Toros,  and  effected  my  retreat  with 
the  dragoons.  I  got  to  head-quarters  in  less  than  an  hour, 
and,  in  consequence  of  my  report,  eighteen  artillerymen 
were  forthwith  sent  to  Sir  Samuel. 

'  We  were  still  ignorant  of  the  fate  of  General  Crau- 
furd's  brigade,  and  of  [that]  of  the  45th  ;  and  that  of  the 
88th  Eegiment  appeared  very  doubtful.  It  was  very  ne- 
cessary that  the  General  should  know  as  soon  as  possible 
the  state  of  affairs  on  the  right,  and  I  again  volunteered 
my  services  to  penetrate  to  the  position  which  General 
Craufurd  might  be  in  possession  of.' 

'  ^th  July. — At  daybreak  I  was  on  horseback.  My  in- 
structions were  to  make  about  one  mile  southing,  and 
then  three  miles  easting.  At  the  moment  of  my  depar- 
ture, one  of  the  Peones  *  arrived  with  the  intelligence  that 
Colonel  Mahon  had  passed  the  bridge  with  the  column 
under  his  command  of  the  40th  Eegiment,  the  17th  Light 

*  Native  scouts  or  spies. 
C 


18  MEMOIK   OF  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

Dragoons  dismounted,  two  companies  of  the  45tli  Eegi- 
ment,  and  one  hundred  men  of  the  88th,  and  waited  for 
further  orders. 

'  Colonel  Mahon  had  been  left  at  La  Eeduction,  with 
the  above-mentioned  force,  to  act  according  to  the  orders 
he  might  subsequently  receive.  A  letter  had  been  sent 
to  him  to  advance,  but  he  had  not  received  it,  and  had 
passed  the  bridge  [only]  in  consequence  of  the  firing  he 
heard,  and  as  concluding  naturally  that  he  should,  at  all 
events,  make  his  force  more  disposable,  by  getting  rid,  as 
soon  as  possible,  of  the  obstacle  of  the  bridge. 

'  With  the  usual  precautions,  I  advanced  within  half  a 
mile  of  the  Eesidencia,  when,  finding  the  enemy's  parties 
falling  back  on  the  same  point,  and  collecting  in  great 
numbers,  I  thought  it  right  to  endeavour  to  communicate 
to  Colonel  Mahon  the  order  to  advance  to  head-quarters, 
before  I  attempted  to  force  the  road  to  the  Eesidencia. 
I  inchned,  therefore,  to  the  right,  and  in  about  half  an 
hour  fell  in  with  the  advanced  pickets,  and  waited  upon 
the  Colonel  at  his  head-quarters.  With  Colonel  Mahon, 
I  left  the  party  of  thirty  infantry  I  had  brought  with  me, 
and  received  in  return  100  men  of  the  40th  Eegiment, 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Gilles.  A  little  after  one 
o'clock,  I  joined  Majors  Mcols  and  Tolly  at  the  Eesidencia. 
Major  Mcols  had  under  his  command  seven  companies  of 
the  45th  Eegiment. 

'Major  Tolly,  of  the  71st  Eegiment,  who  was  one  of 
the  prisoners  under  General  Beresford's  capitulation,  but 
had  made  his  escape,  led  this  column  on  the  day  of  attack, 
and  had  taken  possession  of  the  Eesidencia  with  the  loss 
of  only  seven  men.  They  had  had  no  communication  with 
General  Craufurd.  On  the  morning  of  the  attack,  an 
English  flag  had  been  seen  flying  about  700  or  800  yards 
in  advance  towards  the  north-west,  or  [the]  direction 
where  General  Craufurd  was  expected  to  be.  At  three 
o'clock  p.m.  of  the  same  day,  it  was  struck.'     (An  almost 


SUCCESSFUL   CHARGE   OF  MAJOR  NICOLS.  19 

sure  proof  of  the  surrender  of  that  brigade  and  of  its  most 
gallant  leader.) 

*  Colonel  Gerard,  of  the  45  th,  had  advanced  with  his 
company  of  grenadiers,  soon  after  his  regiment  had  taken 
possession  of  the  Eesidencia,  to  endeavour  to  open  a  com- 
munication with  General  Craufurd,  and  had  been  seen  no 
more.  Whilst  we  were  in  conversation  on  the  top  of  the 
building,  a  cannon-shot  went  over  our  heads ;  the  guns 
were  advancing  up  the  street.  In  a  moment,  Major 
Nicols  was  at  the  head  of  his  men,  and  in  less  than  five 
minutes  a  howitzer,  with  the  timbers,  was  in  our  posses- 
sion. Major  Mcols  and  Major  Tolly  having  given  it  as 
their  opinion  that  it  would  be  in  vain  for  a  small  force  to 
attempt  to  penetrate  in  search  of  General  Craufurd,  and 
that  a  large  force  could  not  be  spared  without  risking  the 
safety  of  the  Eesidencia,  we  were  constrained  to  give  up 
all  hopes  of  opening  a  communication  with  the  Light 
Brigade  ;  and  at  four  o'clock  p.m.  I  began  my  retreat. 

'  At  seven  o'clock  p.m.  I  arrived  at  head-quarters,  with- 
out having  lost  a  man;  a  little  skirmishing  had  taken  place 
on  the  road,  and  the  enemy  lost  two  men  killed,  and  two 
taken  prisoners.  I  found  that  the  Commander-in-Chief 
and  Major-General  Gower  had  gone  to  the  left,  and  that 
Colonel  Mahon  had  occupied  with  his  brigade  our  former 
position  at  the  Miserere.  I  reported  to  the  Colonel  the 
strength  of  Majors  Tolly  and  Nicols'  position,  the  abun- 
dance of  the  provisions  they  had  [found]  in  the  convent 
and  adjacent  houses,  and  the  two  guns  and  the  howitzer 
they  had  taken ;  the  proximity  of  the  river,  which  was  not 
300  yards  distant,  and  the  ease  with  which  a  communica- 
tion might  be  opened  with  the  navy.  [I  added]  the  want 
they  had  expressed  of  an  artillery  officer,  and  the  advan- 
tage they  would  derive  from  a  reinforcement.  The  Colonel 
immediately  decided  that  a  reinforcement  of  300  men, 
under  Major  Gwyn,  should  be  sent  to  them  next  morning, 
with  an  artillery  officer.' 

c  2 


20  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  Ith  July. — At  daybreak,  I  was  on  horseback,  to  pro- 
ceed with  a  small  detachment  to  the  Commander-in-Chief 
on  the  left ;  and  the  party  for  the  support  of  Majors 
Tolly  and  Mcols  was  already  paraded,  when  a  flag  of 
truce  arrived  with  orders  from  General  Whitelocke  to 
suspend  all  hostilities  till  further  orders  ! 

'  At  nine  o'clock,  I  joined  General  Whitelocke,  and  re- 
ported upon  the  state  of  the  Eesidencia,  Colonel  Mahon's 
Brigade,  &c.  I  then  learned  to  my  infinite  sorrow  that 
soon  after  my  departure  a  flag  of  truce  had  arrived  from 
General  Liniers  to  inform  the  Commander-in-Chief  of 
the  capture  of  General  Craufurd,  Colonel  Duff,*  Colonel 
Gerard,  Colonel  Pack,  and  Colonel  Cadogan,  together 
with  the  95th,  the  Light  Battalion,  and  the  88th;  and  to 
offer  all  the  English  prisoners  in  South  America  to  return 
if  the  General  would  agree  to  evacuate  the  territory  of 
Buenos  Ayres  in  ten  days,  and  the  river  Plate  in  the 
course  of  two  months.  This  offer  was  rejected  without 
hesitation.  The  flag  of  truce  was  sent  back,  and  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief and  Major-General  Gower  repaired  with- 
out loss  of  time  to  the  Plaza  de  los  Toros. 

'  On  my  return  from  Sir  Samuel  Achmuty  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  5th,  I  had  reported  the  position  of  the  Plaza  de 
los  Toros  to  be  extremely  good  ;  that  from  it  we  might 
lay  the  town  in  ashes ;  that  no  force  the  enemy  could 
bring  forward  would  ever  be  able  to  take  it  from  us  ;  that 
the  head-quarters  of  the  army  might  be  established  in 
the  Eicoleta,  a  short  distance  to  the  rear ;  that  a  few 
mounted  dragoons  would  clear  the  country  .  .  .  and, 
consequently,  ensure  our  Peones  being  able  to  supply  the 
camp  with  beef;  and  that,  finally,  our  communication 
with  the  navy  being  opened,  we  should  be  enabled  to  ob- 
tain an  ample  supply  of  salt  provisions,  biscuit  and  spirits. 

*  Younger  son  of  the  Earl  of  Fife  and  afterwards  General  the  Honour- 
able Sir  Alexander  Duff.  He  was  brother  to  the  gallant  Lord  Macduff 
and  father  of  the  present  Earl  of  Fife. 


A   DISGRACEFUL  TREATY.  21 

'When  the  two  generals  came  to  the  Plaza  de  los 
Toros,  Major-General  Gower's  opinion  of  the  position  by 
no  means  coincided  with  my  report,  and  I  understand  he 
expressed  himself  so  strongly  as  to  say  that  nothing  more 
could  be  done,  and  that  it  would  be  better  to  accept 
General  Linier's  terms.  I  have  since,  however,  had  the 
satisfaction  to  find  my  report  of  the  position  completely 
supported,  in  all  its  extent^  by  the  Chief  Engineer,  Cap- 
tain Squire,  and  the  commanding  officer  of  Artillery, 
Captain  Fraser. 

'  On  the  morning  of  the  6th,  a  very  short  time  after 
his  arrival  at  the  Plaza  de  los  Toros,  Major-General  Gower 
went  himself  with  a  flag  of  truce  to  General  Liniers,  and 
agreed  upon  the  preliminaries  of  the  treaty.  This  took 
place  about  the  time  I  was  returning  from  the  Eesidencia. 

'At  twelve  o'clock,  the  7th  of  July,  I  was  sent  to  Gene- 
ral Liniers,  who  returned  with  me  to  wait  on  General 
Whitelocke.  The  preliminaries  were  finally  agreed  upon. 
In  the  evening,  English  and  Spanish  patrols  of  cavalry 
were  established  in  the  town.  It  was  determined  that  the 
Eesidencia  and  Miserere  should  be  evacuated,  and  that  all 
the  troops  should  reunite  at  the  Plaza  de  los  Toros.  At 
eight  p.m.  the  treaty  arrived,  signed  by  General  Liniers. 
General  Whitelocke  signed  it  the  same  evening,  and 
Admiral  Murray  the  next  day.' 

The  journal  of  Captain  Whittingham  contains  many 
pages  of  sharp  criticism  and  of  indignant  commentaries  on 
the  facts  which  led  to  this  shameful  surrender,  which  will 
not  be  dwelt  on  in  this  Memoir.  One  passage,  however, 
is  here  given  ;  and  this  chapter  will  conclude  with  a  few 
more  extracts  from  the  journal,  personally  concerning  its 
writer. 

'  {1th  July.) — History  will  record,  and  posterity  with 
difficulty  will  believe,  that  such  an  army  as  oiu"s  capitu- 
lated with  the  rabble  of  a  South  American  town,  and  sold 
the  interests  of  the  country,  and  gave  up  the  hard-earned 


22  MEMOIR  OV  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

conquests  of  their  brother  soldiers,  in  order  to  secure  a 
retreat  which  it  was  most  amply  in  their  power  to  have 
made  at  their  good  pleasure ;  or,  at  best,  to  procure  that 
Hberty  for  their  countrymen  which  under  such  circum- 
stances was  scarcely  worth  their  acceptance.  But  enough 
of  this  subject.  I  am  sick  of  it!  Would  to  God  the 
waters  of  Oblivion  were  as  near  at  hand  as  are  those  of 
La  Plata ! ' 

'11th  July. — Generals  Whitelocke  and  Lumley,  with 
their  staff,  dined  with  General  Liniers  at  the  fort.  The 
dinner  was  excellent,  and  veiy  well  served.  "God  save 
the  King  "  was  played,  and  the  healths  of  the  Kings  of 
England  and  Spain  drunk.  The  meeting  went  off  as  well 
as  the  nature  of  the  affair  could  admit,  and  certainly  no- 
thing could  exceed  the  modesty  and  propriety  of  General 
Liniers's  behaviour  .  .  .  Liniers  is  an  emigrant,  an  ex- 
Baron,  and  a  ci-devant  captain  of  a  ship  of  the  line  in  the 
French  Navy/ 

'12th  July. — I  waited  upon  General  Liniers  for  the  last 
time  relative  to  the  hostages.  They  are  three  volunteers 
— Captains    Stanhope,    6th    Dragoon    Guards,    Carroll, 

88th  Eegiment,  and  Hamilton,   5th  Eegiment 

At  two  o'clock,  [I]  got  on  board  the  "Aurora"  packet. 
We  went  under  the  stern  of  the  "Nereide,"  and,  having 
received  the  General's  final  instructions,  made  sail  for 
Montevideo. 

'lAth  July  [Montevideo]. — I  cannot  express  what  I 
have  felt  this  morning,  at  having  been  informed  by 
Brown,  Blake,  and  Forster,  that  upon  many  of  the  corners 
of  the  streets  was  written,  "  General  Whitelocke  is  either 
a  coward  or  a  traitor !    Perhaps  both !  " 

'  All  the  English  merchants  are  in  an  uproar.  They 
say  their  losses  \^11  be  immense  ;  that  upwards  of  three 
millions  worth  of  property  is  on  its  way  to  this  country, 
and  that,  if  it  is  given  up,  half  the  merchants  in  England 
will  be  ruined.     God  knows  what  will  be  the  result  of  this 


CIVIC   COMPLIMENTS   TO   GENERAL   WHITELOCKE.         23 

most  unfortunate  affair.    It  appears  to  me  one  of  the  most 
severe  blows  that  England  has  ever  received,' 

'  Ibth  [Jw/y]. — Lieutenant-General  Whitelocke  landed 
about  seven  o'clock  a.m.  [at  Montevideo].' 

By  a  return  written  by  Captain  Whittingham,  but  evi- 
dently copied  from  the  official  one,  dated  5th  July,  1807, 
there  w^ere  16  officers  killed  at  the  attack  on  Buenos 
Ayres,  and  56  wounded ;  and  of  non-commissioned  offi- 
cers and  men,  289  killed,  and  592  wounded;  207  was  the 
total  amount  of  the  missing. 

The  following  extract  from  the  journal  is  inserted  from 
a  feeling  of  justice  and  compassion  to  poor  General 
Whitelocke,  since  many  a  man  unfit  for  the  trying  post 
of  a  military  commander  in  war  may  yet  be  excellent  in 
other  positions,  and  worthy  of  love  and  regard. 

'  17^A  July, — The  head  of  the  Cavildo*  waited  upon 
the  General,  to  request  he  would  sign  certain  papers  rela- 
tive to  their  justification,  which  the  General  promised  to 
do.  The  head  of  the  Cavildo  begged  leave  to  return  his 
most  sincere  thanks  to  General  Whitelocke  for  the  honour- 
able and  generous  treatment  [which]  the  magistrates  and 
people  of  Montevideo  had  experienced  at  his  hands,  and 
at  those  of  his  predecessors.  He  added  that  he  was  well 
aware  that  under  the  mild  and  benign  influence  of  the 
British  government  alone  could  they  have  hoped  to  meet 
with  such  strict  and  impartial  justice,  tempered  with 
mercy.  He  spoke  of  the  mob  of  Buenos  Ayres  in  much 
the  same  terms  as  I  have  done  heretofore,f  and  seemed 
to  think  the  period  of  a  revolution  not  far  distant.' 

Before  dismissing  the  subject  of  the  Buenos  Ayres  ex- 
pedition, it  must  be  stated  that  the  journal  of  Captain 
Whittingham  contains  a  long  and  interesting  conversation 
that  he  had  on  the  26th  July,  at  Montevideo,  with  Cap- 
tain Cormero,  the  aide-de-camp  of  General  Liniers;  or 

*  Local  governing  council  of  Montevideo. 

t  In  a  part  of  his  journal  not  published  in  this  work. 


24  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

rather,  it  was  the  questions  of  the  Englishman  that  drew 
out  the  information  from  the  Spaniard.  Captain  Cormero 
(at  the  hospitable  table  of  Captain  Squire)  appears  to  have 
been  very  frank  in  his  communications.  They  were  of  a 
nature  completely  to  confirm  and  verify  the  criticisms 
which  had  previously  been  entered  in  Captain  Whitting- 
ham's  journal ;  though  also  imparting  much  new  and  valu- 
able information.  One  only  of  the  answers  will  be  here 
inserted. 

'  In  possession,'  said  Captain  Cormero,  '  as  you  were,  of 
the  two  important  posts  of  La  Plaza  de  los  Toros,  and 
the  Eesidencia,  we  were  convinced  from  the  very  instant 
that  you  indicated  a  wish  to  treat  of  a  capitulation  that 
your  General  must  have  been  influenced  by  the  tenor  of 
his  instructions,  which,  we  conceive,  must  have  directed 
him,  in  the  most  positive  manner,  to  avoid  all  harsh  mea- 
sures with  the  inhabitants  of  South  America.  In  no 
other  way  could  we  account  for  his  conduct ;  though  we 
had  no  idea  at  that  time  that  the  whole  British  force  had 
ever  exceeded  5,000  men,  including  all  the  losses  in  killed, 
wounded,  and  prisoners,  sustained  in  the  attack  of  the  5th.' 

Captain  Whittingham  was  eager  to  leave  Buenos  Ayres, 
and  return  to  England.  He  had  lost  his  paid  Staff  ap- 
pointment, and  was  only  an  extra  aide-de-camp  to  a  Gene- 
ral going  home.  He  wished  to  obtain  some  new  appoint- 
ment, or,  faihng  that,  to  rejoin  the  13th  Light  Dragoons. 
Accordingly,  having  obtained  leave  from  the  General,  and 
a  passage  from  the  Admiral,  and  taken  leave  of  both  those 
functionaries,  he  sailed  from  Montevideo  for  England,  on 
the  30th  July,  1807. 

Whilst  on  the  Staff  of  General  Whitelocke,  in  South 
America,  Captain  Whittingham  contracted  many  durable 
friendships  amongst  his  brother  officers,  and  more  espe- 
cially with  Lieutenant-Colonel  Henry  Torrens,  and  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel the  Honourable  Henry  Cadogan.  The 
former  was  destined  soon  to  become  the  military  secretary 


GENERAL   WHITELOCKE'S   TRIAL.  25 

of  His  Eoyal  Highness  the  Duke  of  York,  and  under  the 
name  of  Sir  Henry  Tor  reus  to  acquire  a  reputation  at  the 
Horse  Guards,  honoured  and  respected  in  the  army ;  the 
latter,  a  younger  son  of  the  Earl  of  Cadogan,  gallant,  chi- 
valrous, and  generous-minded,  was  destined  to  an  early, 
but  glorious,  death,  whilst  leading  his  regiment  to  victory 
under  the  great  captain  of  the  age.  But  before  this  sad 
event  was  to  occur,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Cadogan  and  Cap- 
tain Whittingham  were  to  renew  their  friendship  in  the 
Peninsular  War,  although  their  meetings  there  were  to  be 
brief  and  rare.  The  letters  of  Cadogan  have  not  reached 
the  author's  hands.  It  is  possible  that  they  may  have 
been  returned  to  his  friends  at  his  death,  although  of  this 
there  is  no  proof.  Fortunately,  two  copies  of  letters  written 
to  him  by  Captain  Whittingham  have  been  preserved,  and 
will  appear  in  their  proper  places.  It  is  enough  here  to 
say  that  they  give  sufficient  proof  of  a  warm  and  almost 
romantic  affection,  rarely  to  be  met  with  in  these  calm  and 
civilized  days. 

It  is  probable  that  Captain  Whittingham  divided  the 
few  months  that  he  remained  in  England  (which  were  not 
occupied  with  the  long  trial  of  General  Whitelocke)  in 
doing  duty  with  the  13th  Light  Dragoons,  in  which  he 
was  a  captain,  and  in  visiting  his  sister  and  brother-in-law. 
The  famous  court-martial  commenced  its  proceedings  on 
the  28th  of  January,  1808,  at  the  Eoyal  Hospital,  Chelsea, 
under  the  presidency  of  Sir  William  Meadows,  K.B. 

Captain  Whittingham  was  one  of  the  most  important 
witnesses ;  and  to  him  (from  the  uniform  kindness  which 
he  had  received  from  the  unfortunate  prisoner)  the  task 
he  was  compelled  to  perform  must  have  been  truly  painful 
to  his  feelings.  The  trial  lasted  till  the  18th  of  March  ; 
about  six  weeks  from  which  time  Captain  Whittingham 
re-embarked  for  foreign  service,  having  obtained  a  new 
Staff  appointment. 

General  Whitelocke  was  tried  on  four  long  charges, 


26  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

most  of  tliem  implying  want  of  judgment  and  of  capa- 
city. The  third  charge  was  the  most  disgraceful,  accusing 
him  of  being  wanting  in  personal  exertion,  in  a  manner 
that  appeared  to  comprehend  a  still  graver  charge,  which 
it  is  needless  to  specify.  The  prisoner  was  sentenced  to 
be  '  cashiered,'  and  was  declared  to  be  '  wholly  unfit  and 
unworthy  to  serve  His  Majesty  in  any  military  capacity 
whatever.' 

Short  as  was  the  time  that  Captain  Whittingham  had 
at  his  command,  during  his  present  stay  in  England,  it  is 
certain  that  he  then  had  the  high  honour  of  attracting 
the  notice  of  that  great  admirer  of  military  merit,  and 
indeed  of  all  merit.  His  Eoyal  Highness  the  Duke  of 
Kent.  This  was,  no  doubt,  due  to  the  reputation  which 
Captain  Whittingham  had  acquired  by  the  publication  of 
his  (and  other  corroborative)  evidence  on  Whitelocke's 
court-martial. 

The  first  of  the  following  two  letters  was  written  by 
General  Eobert  Craufurd,  one  of  the  best  and  bravest  of 
soldiers,  who  was  afterwards  mortally  wounded  at  the 
siege  of  Ciudad  Eodrigo  on  the  19th  January,  1812,  and 
died  on  the  24th  of  the  same  month. 

The  date  of  the  note,  unfortunately,  does  not  fix  the 
time ;  but  it  must  have  been  in  the  autumn  of  1807  : — 

Brigadier- General  Robert  Craufurd  to  Captain  Samford 
Whittingham, 

*  MiCKLEHAM,  Sunday  evening  [1807]. 

'  My  dear  Whittingham, — A  visit  from  a  brother,  whom 
I  have  not  seen  for  a  long  time,  and  who  can  only  pass 
two  days  with  me,  and  some  other  circumstances,  have 
occasioned  my  deferring  this  answer  to  your  last  letter, 
in  which  you  expressed  a  desire  that  I  would  write  to 
Gordon.*     You  may  perfectly  depend  upon  my  sending 

*  Lieutenant-Colonel  Gordon,  Military  Secretary  at  the  Horse  Guards, 
afterwards  for  very  many  years  Quartermaster-General  of  the  army,  as  Si 
Willoughby  Gordon,  G.C.B.,  and  who  survived  to  an  extreme  old  age. 


TESTLMONY   OF   GENERAL   ROBERT   CRAUFURD.  27 

you,  by  to-morrow's  post,  a  letter  both  to  him  and  to 
General  Brownrigg ;  and  I  beg  you  to  be  assured  that  to 
have  an  opportunity  [of]  expressing  the  very  high  opinion 
which  I  entertain  of  your  military  merit,  or  of  proving 
my  very  sincere  personal  regard  and  friendship  for  you, 
will  ever  afford  me  the  most  real  pleasure  and  gratifi- 
cation. 

'  Believe  me  always,  your  sincere  friend, 

'  Egbert  Craufurd. 

'  [P.S.] — I  hope  my  letters  will  not  arrive  too  late.  If 
you  have  not  been  with  Gordon  or  Brownrigg,  Tuesday 
will,  I  suppose,  be  as  good  a  day  as  Monday.  At  any  rate, 
pray  send  my  letters  to  them  if  you  do  not  get  them  in 
time  to  deliver  them  in  person.' 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Gordon  to  Eichard  Hart  Davis, 
Esq.  M.P, 

'  Horse  Guaeds,  SOth  Septemhery  1807. 

*  Sir, — ^I  have  the  pleasure  of  your  letter  of  yesterday, 
with  its  enclosures,  which  I  will  give  to  Mr.  Murdoch  as 
soon  as  he  comes  to  town. 

'  It  has  given  me  great  satisfaction  promoting  the  views 
of  Captain  Whittingham,  of  whose  good  conduct  every 
officer  under  whom  he  has  served  speaks  in  the  highest 
praise.     I  remain,  with  great  truth,  sir, 

'  Your  faithful  servant, 

'  J.  W.  Gordon. 

'  Richard  Hart  Davis,  Esq.  M J*. 
'  Clifton;  Bristol.' 


28  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 


CHAPTEE   III. 

1808. 

APPOINTED  TO  THE  STAFE  OF  THE  ARMY  IN  SICILY — TAKES  LEAVE  OF 
THE  DTTKE  OF  KENT — ARRIVES  AT  GIBRALTAR — ACTS  AS  MILITARY  SE- 
CRETARY TO  SIR  HEW  DALRYMPLE— OBTAINS  LEAVE  TO  JOIN  GENERAL 
CASTANOS  AS  A  VOLUNTEER — HIS  BROTHER  IN-LAW's  LETTER  OF  ADVICE 
—HIS  APPOINTMENT  TO  THE  STAFF  OF  SIR  ARTHUR  WELLESLEY — HIS 
*  RECOLLECTIONS  '  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF  BAYLEN—CASTANOS'  GENEROUS 
SPEECH  TO  DUPONT  —  THE  FIRST  ENGLISHMAN  WHO  FOUGHT  IN  THE 
PENINSULAR  WAR — SHARED  IN  THE  VICTORY  BY  JOINING  LA  PENA'S 
ADVANCED  GUARD — INTERVIEW  WITH  LORD  COLLINGWOOD — WITH  THE 
TRAITOR  LA  MORLA — SCENE  AT  SEVILLE  IN  THE  JUNTA  SUPREMA  — 
CASTANOS'  PATRIOTISM — WHITTINGHA.M  MADE  COLONEL  OF  HORSE  — 
THE  englishman's  FALL — THE  DUKE  OF  YORK'S  PRESENT  TO  CASTANOS 
■ — COLONEL  WHITTINGHAM's  LETTER  TO  HONOURABLE  HENRY  CADOGAN — 
HIS  PROPHETIC  ANTICIPATIONS  OF  SPANISH  FAILURES — DON  SANTIAGO 
WHITTINGHAM — FEVER  AT  TUDELA — A  NEARLY  SMOTHERED  MEDICO — 
DISGRACE  OF  CASTANOS  AFTER  DEFEAT  OF  TUDELA  —  AN  f/NDISTIN- 
GUISHED  RELATIVE    OF   THE   EMPRESS   EUG:&NIE — EFFECTIVE    SPEECH    TO 

A    SPANISH     MOB ^WHEN     THE   ENGLISHMAN    SAYS    IT^     IT    MUST    BE 

TRUE  '  —  THINGS  MORE  AGREEABLE  AS  RECOLLECTIONS  THAN  WHEN 
ACTUALLY  OCCURRING  —  DUKE  OF  INFANTADO  SENDS  COLONEL  WHIT- 
TINGHAM ON  A  MISSION  TO  SEVILLE — GLOOMY  ASPECT  OF  AFFAIRS  IN 
THE  ABSENCE  OF  SIR  ARTHUR  WELLESLEY  —  FIRST  MEETING  WITH 
LORD  WILLIAM  BENTINCK. 

Caftaust  WHiTTmoHAM  was  appointed  in  the  spring  of 
1808  Deputy- Assistant-Quartermaster-General  on  the  Staff 
of  the  army  in  Sicily.  This  was  a  post  not  at  all  to 
his  taste,  for  he  conceived  himself  much  better  fitted  by 
his  antecedents  for  service  in  South  America ;  to  which  it 
was  then  believed  that  another  expedition  was  soon  to  be 
despatched,  to  recover  lost  prestige  by  new  and  better  or- 
ganized plans.  In  1806  his  brother-in-law  had  been 
elected  member  for  Colchester,  and  he  was  no  longer  in 
the  friendless  state  in  which  he  had  entered  the  army ; 


TAKES    LEAVE    OF   THE,  DUKE   OP   KENT.  29 

whilst  his  conduct  at  Buenos  Ayres  had  gained  him  some 
friends,  who  were  attracted  to  him  both  by  his  mihtary 
merits  and  by  his  agreeable  manners. 

Captain  Whittingham  to  Richard  Hart  Davis, 
Esq.  M.P. 
(Extract.)* 
'  Sunday  morning  [probably  April  1808]. 

'  I  dined  yesterday  with  Colonel  Gordon,  who  received 
me  in  the  kindest  manner.  He  has  promised  to  endea- 
vour to  procure  me  a  passage  in  a  frigate  which  will  sail 
in  a  few  days.  To-morrow  I  go  to  the  Duke  of  Kent's, 
and  from  thence  to  Eulham,  so  that  I  shall  not  be  able 
to  see  you.  Tuesday  I  am  to  see  the  Duke  of  York  and 
Colonel  Gordon.  But  I  will  not  fail  to  call  upon  you 
previously  to  my  going  to  the  Horse  Guards.' 

As  Captain  Whittingham  had  no  official  connection 
whatever  with  His  Eoyal  Highness  the  Duke  of  Kent,  his 
going  to  take  leave  of  that  Prince  previously  to  embarking 
for  foreign  service  is  a  proof  of  the  favour  he  enjoyed  in 
that  quarter.  Then,  doubtless,  was  arranged  that  corre- 
spondence the  existence  of  which  will  be  proved;  although 
the  letters  themselves,  with  one  exception,  are  unfortu- 
nately lost  or  mislaid.  This  correspondence  was  a  great 
and  valuable  tribute  to  the  merit  of  a  captain  of  brief 
standing  in  the  army,  and  possessed  of  neither  military 
nor  aristocratic  connections. 

Captain  Whittingham  to  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  Portsmouth,  28?!^  April,  1808. 

'  General  Cake's  aide-de  camp  has  just  been  here  to  an- 
nounce that  we  weigh  anchor  at  eight  o'clock  to-morrow 
morning.     I  shall  not,  therefore,  be  able  to  receive  your 

*  As  nearly  all  the  letters  in  this  work  from  Samford  Whittingham  to 
his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Davis,  will  he  extracts,  the  word  extract  will  be 
omitted  in  future  in  such  letters. 


30  MEMOIR  OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

letter  of  to-morrow.  There  seems  to  be  a  strange  kind  of 
predestination  in  my  going  to  the  Mediterranean  ;  and  a 
soldier  is  more  particularly  bound  to  believe  that  whatever 
is,  is  right.  It  is  to  me  most  grievous  to  think  that  all  my 
hopes  of  being  once  more  employed  where  best  I  could 
have  served  my  country  are  done  away  with.  The  die  is 
cast,  however,  and  there  is  no  remedy.  For  as  to  my  re- 
call from  Sicily  to  join  the  army  in  South  America  after 
the  affair  is  over,  I  cannot  even  wish  it.  For  that  would 
be  completely  reducing  one  to  the  situation  of  a  civil  agent, 
whose  knowledge  of  the  language  might  be  considered 
convenient. ' 

Captain  Whittingham,  however,  sailed  without  effecting 
his  object  of  a  change  of  destination.  After  his  arrival  at 
Gibraltar,  (where,  as  in  duty  bound,  he  waited  on  the 
Governor,  Lieutenant-General  Sir  Hew  Dalrymple,)  he 
wrote  on  the  2nd  June  : — '  You  will  see  by  the  enclosed 
letter  for  Mr.  Murdoch  the  present  state  of  things,  and  will 
judge  of  the  heavy  heart  with  which  I  shall,  in  a  few  days, 
embark  for  Sicily.  When  you  have  read  it,  have  the  good- 
ness to  send  it  to  him.  I  have  seen  Maitland.  He  is  well, 
and  going  into  Spain  with  Captain  Dalrymple.  The  King 
and  Queen  of  Spain,  the  Prince  of  Asturias,  and  several  of 
the  lirst  nobility  have  been  arrested  at  Bayonne,  where 
they  went  to  meet  Buonaparte,  and  have  been  sent  into  the 
interior  of  France.' 

Captain  Whittingham,  it  appears,  now  acted  as  Sir  Hew's 
Mihtary  Secretary  in  the  absence  of  Captain  Dalrymple  on 
leave.  He  thus  discovered  that  the  Governor  was  in  cor- 
respondence with  Lieutenant-General  DonXavier  Castaiios, 
commanding  the  Spanish  camp  near  Gibraltar,  relative  to 
the  plan  of  a  ]3rojected  campaign  against  the  French.  He, 
therefore,  entreated  Sir  Hew  Dalrymple  to  give  him  per- 
mission to  join  General  Castafios  as  a  volunteer.  As  his 
perfect  knowledge  of  the  language  and  people  of  Spain 


JOINS   GENEEAL   CASTANOS   AS   VOLUNTEER.  31 

especially  fitted  him  to  cement  the  alliance  of  the  two 
nations,  the  Governor  does  not  appear  to  have  thrown  any 
difficulties  in  his  way.  How  delighted  this  consent  made 
him,  let  his  own  pen  demonstrate  : — 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  Gibraltar,  Uh  June,  1808. 

'  My  dear  Davis, — It  would  be  in  vain  to  attempt  to  ex- 
press to  you  the  feelings  of  my  heart  upon  this  most 
delightful  occasion.  I  feel  thankful  to  God  for  all  things  ; 
and  I  bless  that  fate  which  has  been  so  singularly  pro- 
pitious to  all  my  soul's  best  wishes.  This  very  morning, 
my  own  dear  brother,  I  proceed  to  San  Eoque,  to  meet  the 
Spanish  General  Castaiios,  and  to  accompany  him  to  the 
advanced  guard  of  the  Spanish  army,  which  is  at  present 
near  Ecija.  I  saw  General  Castaiios  yesterday,  and  he 
was  highly  pleased  at  Sir  Hew  Dalrymple's  offer  to  send 
me  to  remain  with  him  during  the  campaign.  My  instruc- 
tions from  Sir  Hew  are  to  send  him  a  faithful  and  exact 
account  of  the  state  of  the  Spanish  army,  its  numbers,  its 
positions,  the  marches  that  may  be  made,  and  the  battles 
that  shall  take  place  !  This,  of  course,  during  His  Majesty's 
pleasure  ;  and  I  have  now  only  to  beg  and  entreat  that  you 
and  my  dear  Mr.  Murdoch  will,  if  Colonel  Gordon  approve^ 
use  your  utmost  endeavours  with  Lord  Castlereagh  to  get 
my  present  appointment  from  Sir  Hew  Dalrymple  con- 
firmed.' 

He  concludes  a  long  letter  by  requesting  his  brother  to 
get  him  put  on  half-pay,  if  his  request  could  not  other- 
wise be  granted.  The  reply  from  the  Horse  Guards  was 
long  in  reaching  him, in  his  opinion;  and  yet  the  author- 
ities could  hardly  have  answered  quicker,  or,  practically 
speaking,  in  a  more  flattering  manner.  But,  meantime,  he 
was  exceedingly  anxious  on  the  subject.  Full  of  hope, 
nevertheless,  he  joined  General  Castanos,  whose  head- 
quarters were  soon  after  established  at  Utiera. 


32  MEMOIR   OF   Sm   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  speaks  for  itself.  It 
is  written  with  the  kindness  and  in  the  spirit  of  an  affec- 
tionate elder  brother : — 

Richard  Eart  Davis,  M.P.,  to  Captain  Whittingham. 

'  [London,]  V2th  Juhj,  1808. 
'  My  dear  Samford,  .  .  .  Your  most  welcome  letter  of 
the  5th  has  come  to  hand.  We  share  all  your  feelings  in 
regard  to  your  appointment  .  .  .  Prudence  requires  that 
your  communications  with  Mr.  Murdoch  and  myself  should 
only  embrace  transactions  that  would  be  interesting  to  us 
in  as  far  as  you  are  personally  engaged  in  them,  and  not 
embracing,  as  your  letters  to  Government  undoubtedly 
will,  the  secrets  of  the  Spanish  army,  and  the  general 
policy  of  the  country.  In  short,  ours  must  be  an  in- 
teresting correspondence,  because  it  regards  you,  but  not 
as  politically  regarding  Spain.  Trust  no  one  with  infor- 
mation but  through  the  regular  channel  of  Government. 
Suspect  all  men  around  you  ;  and  depend  alone  on  your 
own  clear  and  unbiassed  judgment.  Inspire  enthusiasm  in 
others ;  but  do  not  be  led  [into]  acting  by  it  yourself. 
Never  push  yourself  unnecessarily  into  danger :  my  caution 
shows  how  ready  you  will  he  to  meet  it*  Never  send  in- 
formation home  as  certain  and  to  be  depended  on  but  on 
the  clearest  evidence.  Always  speak  cautiously  as  to  future 
events,  but  without  desponding.  Eecollect  that  it  i^  a  new 
system  of  warfare  [that  will  be  required]  to  make  volun- 
teers -beat  the  troops  that  have  conquered  all  Europe. 
Perhaps  the  Fabian  system  of  delay,  though  the  least 
magnanimous,  will  be  of  the  most  efficacy.  I  want  in  some 
degree  to  temper  your  enthusiasm,  by  suggesting  that  you 
may  be  uselessly  sacrificed  by  your  ardour  in  leading  on 
young  troops  who  may  be  panic-struck,  and  desert  you. 

*  His  relations  ever  feared  that  his  chivalrous  eagerness  for  distinction 
might  lead  him  into  acts  of  rashness. 


LETTER   OF   ADVICE.  33 

Excuse  this  advice  which  may  be,  nay,  probably  is,  unneces- 
sary, but  which  the  warmest  affection  for  you  suggests.  You 
must,  at  all  events,  make  up  your  mind  to  a  long  struggle, 
if  Spain  is  to  be  successful ;  God  grant  that  she  may.  If 
an  early  battle  is  fought,  and  the  Spaniards  are  defeated, 
I  fear  that  it  will  break  the  energy  of  their  measures,  and 
the  unanimity  of  their  councils.  France  has  possession  of 
the  government,  and  the  centre  of  the  country,  and  can 
march  to  any  part  of  the  circle,  and  separate  the  force  that 
is  forming  against  her.  She  has,  besides,  possession  of  the 
passes  into  the  country,  and  can,  therefore,  reinforce  her 
army  to  any  extent.  The  salvation  of  Spain,  in  my  opinion, 
will  not  depend  upon  her  own  efforts  only,  nor  on  our  as- 
sistance, powerful  as  it  will  be  ;  but  it  must  be  connected 
with  other  hostile  movements  in  other  parts  of  Europe.* 

'  Be  cautious  in  writing  your  dispatches.  Use  your 
own  short  and  nervous  language.  Cultivate  the  good 
will  of  the  Spanish  Commander-in-Chief  You  will  be 
the  link  to  unite  the  two  armies,  nay,  perhaps  the  two 
countries ;  and  to  be  successful,  they  must  be  harmonious. 
Besides,  what  the  Spanish  commander  says  of  you  in  his 
dispatch  will  have  great  weight.  1  am  most  anxious  to  hear 
of  the  expected  engagement  with  Dupont.  Wellesley  has 
probably  sailed-  from  Cork  with  his  armament.' 

The  following  letter  was  not  communicated  to  Captain 
Whittingham  till  some  time  after  the  battle  of  Baylen, 
though  written  more  than  a  fortnight  before  it : — 

Colo7iel  J.  W.  Gordon  to  Lieutenant-General  Sir  Hew 
Dalrymple. 

(Extract.) 

^  Horse  Guards,  2nd  July,  1808. 

'Sir, — Captain  Whittingham,  of  the  13th  Light  Dra- 
goons, having  been  appointed  a  Deputy-Assistant  Quar- 

*  A  true  prophecy  :  for  except  for  the  invasion  of  Russia  by  Napoleon, 
the  Peninsula  could  scarcely  have  been  delivered. 

D 


34  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

ter master-General  to  the  forces  under  the  command  of 
Lieutenant-General  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley,  I  am  directed 
to  acquaint  you  that  Captain  Whittingham  has  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief's permission  to  remain  with  General  Cas- 
taiios.' 

Had  this  post  been  given  to  Captain  Whittingham  a 
few  weeks  sooner,  he  would  undoubtedly  have  joined 
Sir  Authur  Wellesley  without  delay,  and  thus  have  been 
attached  to  that  illustrious  hero  for  the  rest  of  the  Penin- 
sular War.  In  after  years,  he  often  regretted  the  decision 
that  he  now  made  to  adhere  to  the  career  which  he 
had,  in  the  first  instance,  embraced  mainly  to  escape  pro- 
ceeding to  Sicily.  He  would  certainly  have  been  spared 
many  disappointments  and  mortifications,  occasioned  by 
the  misfortunes  and  misconduct  of  the  Spaniards,  if  his 
service  in  the  Peninsula  had  all  been  performed  on  the 
Staff  under  the  eye  of  the  great  duke  ;  and  he  would 
have  personally  shared  in  more  of  his  victories.  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  very  subordinate  rank  he  would  have 
held  would  have  deprived  him  of  the  opportunity  of  dis- 
playing the  military  abihty  that  he  undoubtedly  did  dis- 
play with  the  Spanish  troops,  the  wretched  condition  of 
which  ennobled  the  task  of  commanding  them  by  in- 
creasing its  difficulty.  Still  less,  had  he  adhered  to  his 
English  Staff  Captaincy,  could  he  have  gained  the  confi- 
dence and  respect  of  Marquis  Wellesley,  and  of  Lord 
Cowley,  or  have  earned  the  fiattering  praises  of  an  accom- 
plished Marshal  of  France ;  all  of  which  advantages  fell 
to  his  lot  in  the  service  of  Spain. 

From  Sir  SamfordJs  ^Recollections.''     (Mentioned  in  the 
.     Preface,) 

'  The  army  of  Castanos  was  composed  of  10,000  regu- 
lar infantry,  25,000  rabble,  twenty-four  pieces  of  horse 
artillery,  and  about  1,500  cavalry.     The  French  force  at 


KECOLLECTIONS  OF  BATTLE  OF  BAYLEN.        35 

that  time  in  Andalusia  exceeded  25,000  men.*  Our  first 
point  of  assembly  was  at  Utiera,  from  whence  we  ad- 
vanced to  Baylen  in  four  divisions,  [the  three  first]  com- 
manded by  Major-General  Eeding,f  Lieutenant-General 
the  Marquis  de  Compigny,  and  Lieutenant-General  La 
Pena.J  The  fourth  division  formed  the  reserve.  Previous 
to  the  memorable  battle  that  took  place  some  days  after- 
wards, Eeding  and  Compigny,  by  a  flank  movement,  got 
to  the  rear  of  the  French  position;  whilst  Castanos,  with 
two  other  divisions,  attacked  it  in  front.  Dupont,  in 
the  battle,  committed  the  fault  of  successively  attacking 
the  Spanish  position  at  four  different  points,  instead  of 
concentrating  and  repeating  his  efforts  upon  one  and 
the  same  point.  The  Spanish  troops  behaved  nobly  ; 
and  the  Spanish  artillery  was  eminently  successful.  Vic- 
tory, after  a  hard-fought  day,  declared  for  the  Spaniards ; 
and  the  French  remained  prisoners  of  war.  Nothing 
could  excuse  or  palliate  the  conduct  of  Dupont ;  for 
he  had  not  only  surrendered  himself  and  his  army  to 
a  far  inferior  force,  but  he  obliged  General  Vedel  to 
countermarch  on  his  route  to  Madrid,  and  to  come  to 
Baylen  to  be  included  in  the  capitulation.'  [After  describ- 
ing how  the  disgraceful  conduct  of  Dupont  was  mainly 
owing  to  his  desire  to  save  his  effects,  and  the  plunder 
he  had  accumulated,  the  '  Eecollections '  continue  :]  '  On 
the  following  day,  when  Dupont  advanced  at  the  head  of 
his  Staff  to  deliver  up  his  sword  to  General  Castaiios,  the 
Spaniard  dismounted,  and  approaching  the  carriage  in 
which  Dupont  and  his  Staff  were  seated,  he  addressed  him 
in  a  kind  and  consolatory  speech :  calling  his  attention 
to  the  inevitable  vicissitudes  of  human  life,  and  attributing 

*  The  French,  however,  at  Baylen  had  only  17,500  men,  including  cavalry  j 
but  that  number  should  have  easily  routed  the  imdisciplined  troops  of  Cas- 
tanos. 

t  General  Reding  was  a  Swiss  officer  of  considerable  ability. 

X  This  General  was  destined,  at  a  later  period,  to  be  the  involuntary  cause 
of  the  greatest  mortification  that  ever  befell  the  subject  of  this  Memoir. 

d2 


36  MEMOIR   OF  SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

his  victory  over  one  of  the  most  renowned  of  Napoleon's 
generals  more  to  his  good  fortune  than  to  any  superiority 
of  talent.  17,500  men,  of  which  3,000  were  cavalry, 
and  a  brilliant  and  numerous  train  of  horse  artillery, 
filed  off  before  our  ragged  ranks,  and  laid  down  their 
arms.' 

By  joining  La  Pena,  Captain  Whittingham  shared  per- 
sonally in  this  victory,  and  had  thereby  the  honour  of 
being  the  first  Englishman  who  fought  for  Spain  in  the 
Peninsular  War.  Two  days  later,  20th  July,  1808,  Sir 
Arthur  Wellesley,  having  preceded  his  troops,  landed  at 
Coruiia,  from  His  Majesty's  ship  '  Crocodile,'  commanded 
by  Captain  the  Hon.  George  (afterwards  the  late  Earl) 
Cadogan,  the  younger  brother  of  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Cadogan,  the  intimate  friend  and  correspondent  of  Captain 
Whittingham. 

In  his  '  History  of  the  Consulate  and  the  Empire,'  M. 
Thiers  says  : — '  Such  was  the  famous  capitulation  of 
Baylen,  the  name  of  which,  in  our  childhood,  resounded  in 
our  ears  as  often  as  that  of  Austerlitz  or  of  Jena.'  * 

In  one  of  his  letters  to  his  brother-in-law.  Captain 
Whittingham  writes  : — '  General  Castaiios  deserves  the 
highest  honour  for  his  well-conceived  plan,  and  for  the 
cool  determination  with  wJiich  he  carried  it  into  execu- 
tion, in  spite  of  all  the  popular  clamours  for  an  immediate 
attack  upon  tlie  position  of  Andujar.  The  General  was  so 
kind  as  to  allow  me  to  advance  with  General  La  Peiia's 
division.' 

After  Baylen,  he  travelled  in  various  parts  of  Spain  on 
General  Castanos'  missions,  who  himself,  it  appears,  went 
to  Seville. 

*  '  Telle  fut  cette  fameuse  capitulation  de  Baylen,  dont  le  nom,  dans  notre 
enfance,  a  aiissi  souvent  retenti  a  nos  oreilles  que  celui  d' Austerlitz  ou 
d'l^na.'— Vol.  i.  p.  205. 


GENERAL   CASTANOS.  37 

To  his  BrotJier-in-law. 

'  CoKDOVA,  Ibth  August,  1808. 

'  You  forgot  to  enclose  the  note  from  Sir  Thomas 
Plumer.  I  will  not  attempt  to  express  the  delight  with 
which  I  have  heard  Sir  Thomas's  opinion  upon  my  con- 
duct. I  will  not  run  into  unnecessary  danger ;  but  in  the 
day  of  battle  I  cannot  remain  at  head-quarters.  General 
Castanos  permitted  me,  with  some  difficulty,  to  move  with 
the  advanced  guard  at  the  affair  of  Baylen.'  I  trust  that 
he  will  never  refuse  his  permission  in  future.  It  is  the 
only  point  upon  which  I  shall  differ  in  opinion  with  my  be- 
loved General,  whose  kindness  to  me  is  that  of  a  father  to 
a  son.  Charles  IV.  has  lost  Spain  for  ever.  He  and  his 
infamous  Queen  are  detested,  and  the  hopes  and  wishes  of 
the  people  are  fixed  upon  Ferdinand  VII. 

' .  .  .  I  have  bought  four  horses,  three  for  riding,  and 
one  as  a  bat  horse ;  and  a  travelling  carriage.  I  have  made 
upwards  of  a  thousand  miles  post  since  the  battle  of  Bay- 
len ;  and  in  this  country  we  are  obliged  to  travel  with  four 
horses.  A  number  of  little  purchases  made  at  Gibraltar 
for  officers  of  General  Castanos'  staff  I  have  requested 
them  to  accept,  because  even  in  the  veriest  trifle  at  pre- 
sent I  would  wish  to  see  liberality  the  order  of  the  day.. 
...  On  the  29th  July,  I  delivered  my  letter  for  you  to 
Lord  Collingwood.*  I  explained  to  his  Laxdship  the  rea- 
sons which  induced  General  Castanos  to  grant  such  favour- 
able terms  to  General  Dupont,  "  namely,  the  impossibility 
of  preventing  the  retreating  of  General  Vedel  upon  Ma- 
drid."    In  the  evening,  I  waited  upon  General  Morla.f 

*  '  Lord  CoUingwood  had  not  been  satisfied  with  the  terms  granted  to 
[General]  Vedel.  He  was  not  sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  circumstances 
to  understand  why  an  inferior  division  should  have  been  allowed  to  capitu- 
late after  the  principal  force  had  been  defeated.' — Southey's  Petiinsidar  War, 
vol.  i.  page  390. 

t  Don  Thomas  de  Morla,  whose  treacherous  surrender,  afterwards,  of 
Madrid  has  covered  his  name  with  perpetual  infamy. 


38  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

31st  July,  I  left  Cadiz,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  1st 
August  arrived  at  Gibraltar.  Sir  Hew  received  me  with 
the  greatest  kindness.  3rd  August,  returned  to  Algeciras ; 
5th,  to  Cadiz ;  6th,  went  again  on  board  the  fleet  to  see  Lord 
Colling  wood,  where  I  learned  the  news  of  the  augmen- 
tation of  the  British  army  of  Portugal  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  Sir  Hew  Dalrymple  to  the  chief  command.  In 
the  evening  General  Morla  informed  me  that  the  French 
evacuated  Madrid  on  the  31st  July.  On  the  7th,  I  dined 
with  Mrs.  Gordon,  at  Xeres,  and  on  the  8th,  arrived  at 
Seville  at  nine  in  the -morning. 

'  I  do  not  conceive  I  am  wanting  in  my  duty  by  com- 
municating to  you  the  very  satisfactory  conversation  I  had 
with  General  CastaSos  on  my  return  to  Seville.'  [After 
mentioning  a  number  of  military  arrangements  that  he 
had  made  in  the  province,  Castanos  added,]  '  that  he  had 
sent  the  Chief  of  his  Staff  to  General  Moreno  to  Madrid, 
where  he  intended  to  go  himself  within  a  few  days.  The 
General  then  informed  me  that  a  battle  had  been  fought  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Eio-Seco  between  General  Cuesta 
and  General  Bessieres ;  the  French  force  consisted  of 
15,000  men;  the  Spaniards,  including  the  army  of  Galicia, 
amounted  to  50,000.  The  Spaniards  had  no  cavalry.  The 
battle  was  fought  in  a  plain.  The  French  horse  turned  the 
left  wing  of  the  Spanish  line ;  the  defeat  was  complete ; 
5,000  or  6,000  men  were  killed,  and  the  whole  army 
dispersed.  General  Cuesta  retreated  to  Salamanca,  and 
General  Blake,  with  the  army  of  Galicia,  to  the  frontiers 
of  that  province. 

'  If  I  might  be  allowed  to  give  an  opinion  upon  matters 
of  such  high  importance,  this  battle  of  Cuesta,  evidently 
fought  without  a  proper  attention  to  the  nature  of  the 
ground,  or  the  composition  of  the  army,  will  ultimately 
tend  to  much  good.  In  all  probability  it  will  lead  to 
giving  the  chief  conmiand  of  the  whole  Spanish  army  to 
General  Castanos,  who  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  follow  up 


CASTANOS'   PATRIOTIC   CONDUCT.  39 

the  excellent  system  which  he  has  begun,  and  prove  him- 
self the  Fabiiis  of  Spain.' 

'  11th  August. — I  had  a  long  conversation  with  the 
General,  relative  to  the  affairs  of  this  Government.  It 
appears  that  disputes  had  run  high  in  the  Junta  Suprema 
of  Seville  upon  the  subject  of  Granada.  Count  Tilly 
threatened  that  a  division  of  the  army  of  Andalusia  should 
march  against  Granada,  and  force  them  to  obey  the  orders 
of  the  Junta  of  Seville.  General  Castanos  then  arose  from 
his  seat,  and,  striking  the  table  with  his  hand,  he  said, 
"  And  who  is  the  man  that  will  dare  to  lead  a  division  of 
my  army,  contrary  to  my  orders  ?  I  do  not  consider  the 
army  I  have  the  honour  to  command  as  the  army  of  An- 
dalusia, but  as  the  army  of  Spain,  and  never  will  I  stain 
the  laurels  which  it  has  won  by  suffering  it  to  become  the 
vile  instrument  of  civil  discord.  The  affairs  of  Granada 
may  be  amicably  and  easily  settled." 

'  As  soon  as  the  General  had  done  speaking,  Don 
Vincento  Ori  stood  up,  and,  taking  off  his  banda,  threw  it 
upon  the  table,  saying  that  "  he  would  never  be  a  member 
of  any  body  where  such  words  as  those  which  he  had  just 
heard  from  Count  Tilly  were  tolerated." 

'  The  discussion  ended  by  an  apology  on  the  part  of  the 
Count  for  what  he  had  said,  and  a  recantation  of  his  ideas 
upon  the  subject  of^civil  war.' 

For  his  services  at  the  battle  of  Baylen,  Captain  Whit- 
tingham  was  made  a  Colonel  of  Cavalry  in  the  Spanish 
army  by  General  Castanos,  subject  to  confirmation  by  the 
Junta.  Colonel  Whittingham,  soon  after  the  above  letter, 
accompanied  his  beloved  and  excellent  chief  to  Madrid, 
and  here  we  will  quote  from  his  manuscript  '  EecoUec- 
tions :' — 

'  On  our  passage  through  La  Mancha  to  Madrid,  I  was 
taken  to  the  house  of  a  woman,  who  had  obtained  great 
celebrity  by  the  murder  of  a  number  of  French  soldiers. 
In  the  court-yard  of  her  dwelling,  there  was  a  well  of  very 


40  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTmGHAM. 

good  water,  but  the  rope  for  drawing  it  up  was  very  short, 
and  you  were  obhged  to  stoop  forward  in  order  to  be  able 
to  drink  out  of  the  bucket.  Whenever  an  incautious 
soldier  came  to  the  well,  and  bent  over  to  drink,  she  came 
behind  him,  and,  seizing  him  by  the  legs,  tumbled  him 
into  the  well.  She  had,  I  understood,  put  eight  men  to 
death  in  this  manner. 

'  The  triumphant  march  of  General  Castanos  to  Madrid 
far  exceeds  my  powers  of  description.  On  entering  the 
gates  of  Atocha,  our  steps  were  directed  to  the  chapel  to 
hear  mass.  The  crowd  w^as  immense ;  and  at  the  church 
door,  one  of  the  Manolas,  a  stout  handsome  young  woman, 
threw  her  arms  round  my  neck  with  such  affectionate  vio- 
lence that  down  we  came  at  full  length  together  on  the 
floor,  she  exclaiming  all  the  while,  "  God  bless  the  English- 
man, the  delight  of  my  soul."*  The  burst  of  laughter  was 
not  quite  in  harmony  with  church  gravity,  but  Castanos 
long  enjoyed  the  joke,  and  the  Englishman's  fall  became  a 
standing  dish  at  his  table.' 

To  appreciate  the  joke,  the  reader  must  bear  in  mind 
that  Colonel  Whittingham  was  about  six  feet  high  in  his 
boots,  and  stout  and  broad-shouldered,  even  more  than  in 
proportion  to  that  stature ;  and  he  was  a  fine  figure  in  the 
dress  which  he  still  wore,  of  Captain  of  the  13th  Light 
Dragoons.  He  was,  from  early  date,  however,  obliged  to 
guard  against  a  too  great  emhoyipoint,  and  at  times  lived 
very  abstemiously  for  that  purpose. 

Whilst  at  Madrid,  Captain  Whittingham  (for  so  by  the 
Horse  Guards  authorities  he  was  still  styled)  must  have 
received  the  letter  of  which  the  following  is  an  extract, 
and  which  was  found  amongst  his  papers ; — 

*  Bendito  sea  el  Inglesito  de  mi  alma. 


DUKE  OF  York's  present  to  castanos.  41 

Lieutenant- Colonel  Gordon  to  E,  II.  Davis ^  Esq.  M.P. 

(Extract.) 

'  HoKSE  Guards,  2^rd  August,  1808. 

'  You  may  assure  Captain  Whittingham  that  his  conduct 
has  given  great  satisfaction,  and  that,  whenever  the  rules 
of  the  service  admit  of  it,  the  Commander-in-Chief  will  im- 
mediately recommend  him  to  the  King  for  promotion.* 
He  is  in  the  meantime  to  continue  with  Castanos,  and  to 
hold  his  appointment  as  Deputy  Assistant  Quartermaster- 
General  to  the  army,  under  Sir  Hew  Dalrymple.  It  is 
perhaps  unnecessary  for  me  to  repeat  to  you  the  high 
opinion  I  have  long  formed  of  Captain  Whittingham  ;  but 
you  may  rely  upon  me  for  every  aid  in  my  power  to  the 
advancement  of  his  interest,  convinced  that  in  so  doing 
I  am  assisting  an  officer  whose  zeal  and  talents  will  be 
eminently  useful  to  his  country.' 

A  letter  from  Samford  Whittingham  to  his  brother-in- 
law,  dated  Madrid,  2nd  September,  1808,  concluded  with 
this  commission : — '  On  the  part  of  General  Castanos,  pray 
ask  Mr.  Knight  to  order  one  of  the  machines  for  making 
lint  for  the  use  of  the  army,  to  be  forwarded  immediately 
to  Coruna.  Adieu,  God  bless  you.  The  French  have  pil- 
laged Bilbao.    The  slaughter  has  been  great.' 

This  commission  for  Mr.  Knight  led  to  a  graceful  act 
of  courtesy  on  the  part  of  the  Duke  of  York  to  General 
Castanos,  which  Mr.  Knight  thus  explained  in  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Hart  Davis,  dated  Weymouth,  30th  October,  1808  : 
— '  1  accidentally  mentioned  to  the  Duke  of  York  the  com- 
mission of  General  Castanos,  and  His  Eoyal  Highness  has 
taken  advantage  of  the  circumstance  and  the  opportunity 

*  The  Supreme  Junta  of  Seville,  by  a  decree  in  the  name  of  King  Ferdi- 
nand VII.  of  20th  July,  1808,  had  made  Don  Santiago  Whittingham  a 
Colonel  of  Cavalry,  '  for  the  zeal  and  known  valour  with  which  you  have 
distinguished  yourself  in  the  campaign  of  Andalusia,  which  terminated 
with  the  glorious  battle  of  Baylen.' 


42  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

to  pay  His  Excellency  a  suitable  compliment,  by  direct- 
ing me  to  accompany  the  machine  with  a  present  from 
His  Eoyal  Highness  of  a  portable  medicine  chest  and  com- 
plete set  of  instruments,  finished  after  the  manner  in  which 
they  are  furnished  for  service,  for  the  Duke's  personal  use 
...  I  think  this  is  a  most  handsome  trait  of  the  Duke, 
and  it  is  like  himself.' 

It  may  be  easily  imagined  what  pleasure  it  gave  to 
Colonel  Whittingham  to  be  the  first  to  announce  to  his 
respected  and  kind  chief  the  coming  present  from  the 
Eoyal  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  British  army. 

General  Castaiios,  whilst  at  Madrid,  despatched  Colonel 
Whittingham  on  a  special  mission,  which  the  latter  thus 
announced  to  Mr.  Davis  in  a  letter,  dated  Madrid,  7th 
September  : — '  I  leave  this  town  for  Saragossa  to-morrow. 
General  Castaiios  sends  me  to  examine  into  the  real  effec- 
tive forces  and  condition  of  the  armies  of  Aragon,  Valencia, 
and  Castile.  I  shall  return  with  a  faithful  account  of  the 
state  of  things  to  our  divisional  head-quarters,  which  are 
about  to  be  established  at  Soria.  My  old  friend  and  com- 
mander, Lieutenant-General  La  Peiia,  commands  there, 
and  is  extremely  anxious  to  receive  a  report  on  the  sub- 
ject from  me.' 

On  the  22nd  September  of  this  year,  Sir  Arthur  Wel- 
lesley,  unfortunately  for  the  Peninsula,  embarked  at 
Lisbon  to  return  to  England.  He  arrived  in  London  on 
the  6th  October.  There  he  was  detained  by  the  long 
enquiry  into  the  convention  of  Cintra,  and  received  the 
warm  thanks  of  botli  Houses  of  Parliament.  It  was  not 
till  the  22nd  of  April,  1809,  that  he  returned  to  Lisbon. 
During  his  absence  occurred  the  defeat  of  the  Spaniards 
under  Castanos  at  Tudela,  and  the  death  of  Sir  John 
Moore  at  Coruna,  followed  by  the  abandonment  of  that 
coast  of  Spain. 

In  a  long  letter  to  Mr.  Stuart,  the  Minister,  dated 
Madrid,  22nd   September,   1808,  Colonel  Whittingliam 


LETTER   TO   THE   HONOURABLE   COLONEL   CADOGAN.       43 

defends  the  conduct  of  General  Castanos  after  the  battle 
of  Baylen.     The  last  sentence  alone  is  here  quoted  : — 

'  The  terms  of  the  treatj^  it  is  very  clear,  cannot  be 
fulfilled.  The  Spaniards  have  neither  ships,  men,  nor 
money  to  send  these  men  to  France,  and  by  the  capitu- 
lation they  can  only  be  sent  home  in  Spanish  vessels 
manned  by  Spaniards.  They  must,  therefore,  of  neces- 
sity remain  prisoners  in  Spain  at  least  for  some  years.' 

Colonel   Whittingham  to  Lieutenant- Colonel  the  Hon. 
Heiiry  Cadogan^  list  Regiment^  2nd  Battalion. 

<  Madrid,  Qth  Octohe)-,  1808. 

'  My  dear  Cadogan, — It  would  be  difficult  for  me  to 
express  the  pleasure  which  I  have  received  from  your 
truly  friendly  letter.  Believe  me,  few  things  in  this  life 
could  have  given  me  greater  satisfaction.  I  love  to 
cherish  the  hope  that  you  will  be  with  us.  We  have 
much  yet  to  do,  and  great  indeed  is  the  assistance  which 
we  stand  in  need  of.  I  have  been  detained  in  Madrid 
longer  than  I  had  wished  or  expected.  The  proposed 
march  of  the  English  army  to  this  country  has  been  the 
cause  of  it.  Everything  is  now  settled,  and  to-morrow  I 
go  ofi*  to  the  army.  We  occupy  the  right  bank  of  the 
Ebro,  and  the  French  the  left.  Their  right  is  at  Miranda, 
and  their  left  at  Milapo.  Pampeluna  is  in  their  posses- 
sion, and  the  otlier  day  they  again  entered  Bilbao.  They 
expect  strong  reinforcements  by  the  15th  of  this  month. 
Their  present  force  is  45,000  men.  The  centre  of  our 
army,  commanded  by  General  Castanos,  occupies  Lo- 
grono,  Calahorra,  Corella,  Cascarte,  and  Tarragona.  The 
left  under  Blake  is  at  Frias  and  Orduna.  The  right, 
under  Palafox,  is  at  Saragossa,  with  a  detachment  ad- 
vanced towards  Sanguera.  Our  whole  force  may  amount 
to  100,000  men.  But  at  least  30,000  of  them  are  not 
yet  near  the  scene  of  action,  having  been  detained  by  a 
complete  want  of  clothing.     Yet  there  is  no  time  to  be 


44  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

lost  if  we  mean  to  attack  the  French  before  the  arrival 
of  their  reinforcements.  The  orders  to  this  effect  from 
government  are  positive,  and  I  shall  probably  have  to 
communicate  an  account  of  a  general  action  in  less  than 
ten  days.  For  the  first  time  in  my  life,  my  dear  Cadogan, 
7ny  heart  misgives  me,  and  forebodes  no  good.  I  fear  the 
result  of  this  action.  *  The  French  are  concentrated,  and 
v^e  are  considerably  scattered.  Their  troops  are  all  equal ; 
ours,  some  bad,  and  some  good.  They  have  the  advantage 
of  unity  of  command ;  we  are  directed  by  three  generals, 
all  independent  of  each  other.  I  trust  in  God  that  nothing 
will  delay  the  march  of  the  English  army  to  Burgos.  It 
will  be  an  excellent  rallying  point  for  us  in  case  of  disaster ; 
but  no  time  must  be  lost.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  Spaniards 
is  worthy  of  their  cause,  and  their  bravery  such  as  you 
would  wish  your  best  friend  to  possess.  But  we  are  not 
yet  organized ;  and  as  we  are  now  to  move  in  large 
bodies,  and  with  combined  operations,  I  cannot  help  en- 
tertaining some  doubts  of  the  issue  of  the  first  battle.  As 
I  shall  probably  not  have  time  to  write  to  anyone  again 
before  the  action,  I  pray  you,  should  anything  happen  to 
me,  to  let  Colonel  Gordon  see  this  letter.  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, with  one  or  with  twenty  battles  that  Buonaparte 
will. conquer  Spain.  Every  town  will  become  another 
Saragossa  ;  and  when  his  brother  reigns  in  Spain,  women 
and  children  will  be  his  only  subjects.  I  have  General 
Castanos'  order  to  join  my  old  commander,  General  La 
Pena.  His  outposts  are  generally  engaged  with  the 
French,  and  hitherto  the  Spaniards  have  uniformly  had 
the  advantage.  When  I  returned  about  ten  days  ago 
from  a  reconnoissance  of  the  line  occupied  by  our  troops, 
I  sent  my  horses  forwards  ;  so  that  I  have  nothing  to  do 

*  The  Editor  lias  placed  tbese  words  in  italics,  as  proving  that  the  victory 
of  Baylen  had  not  blinded  the  judgment  of  Colonel  Whittingham  to  the 
inferiority  of  the  Spanish  to  the  French  troops.  The  subseqnent  constant 
defeats  of  the  Spaniards  only  too  well  justified  his  prognostications. 


DON   SANTIAGO   WHITTINGHAM.  45 

but  to  pass  into  the  saddle  of  a  good  post-horse,  and 
hasten  to  the  scene  of  action.  I  have  a  famous  stock  of 
cigars,  a  pocket- compass,  and  some  excellent  horses.  So 
that,  you  see,  your  old  friend  is  well  provided  for  the 
campaign.  God  bless  you,  and  grant  that  you  may  soon 
be  with  us. 

'  Yours  ever, 

'Samford  Whittingham.' 

His  prophetic  anticipations  of  failure  were  too  soon 
realized,  and  the  reputation  of  General  Castanos  was 
eclipsed  on  the  23rd  of  November  at  the  fatal  battle 
of  Tudela.  The  blame,  however,  entirely  lay  with  the 
Spanish  Government.  The  battle  was  fought  by  order 
of  the  Commissioner,  whom  the  Supreme  Junta  attached 
with  full  powers  to  the  army,  and  who  compelled  Cas- 
tanos, against  his  will,  to  assault  the  army  of  Marshal 
Victor.  But  by  these  remarks  we  are  anticipating,  and 
must  now  return  to  our  story. 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  Head-Quarteks,  Calahorra,  30th  October,  1808. 

'  Have  the  goodness  to  direct  all  your  letters  to  me  as 
follows  : — 

' "  A  Don  Santiago  Whittingham^  Coronel  de  Cavalleria, 
en  el  Quartel  General  del  Excellentisimo  Senor  Don 
Francisco  Xavier  de  Castanos^  Capitan  General  y  Gene- 
ral in  Xefe  del  exercito  centro.    Adonde  se  hailed  * 
'  I  have  paid  every  trifling  debt,  and  I  left  Madrid 
without  owing  a  shilling  to  anyone.     On  the  other  hand, 
my  contingent  account,  w^hich  will  be  paid  to  me  by  the 
Commissary-General  of  the  British  army — at  least  so  Sir 
Hew  Dalrymple  informed  me — amounts  to  708  dollars ; 

*  From  this  time  forth,  he  was  usually  addressed  by  his  Spanish  rank 
during  the  Peninsular  War,  except  in  official  letters  from  the  authorities  in 
England,  in  which  he  was  generally  addressed  by  his  rank  in  the  British 


46  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

all  for  expenses  of  different  journeys  and  messengers  on 
Government  account.  My  carriage,  horses,  and  personal 
expenses,  of  course,  I  have  paid  myself,  and  should  not 
think  of  charging.  Doyle  has  a  carte-blanche  for  his 
expenses  from  Lord  Castlereagh.  You  will  see  by  the 
enclosed  copy  of  a  commission  which  I  have  received 
from  General  Castanos  that  they  have  made  me  a  Colonel 
of  Horse,  with  full  rank  and  pay.  But  what  I  most 
esteem  is  the  cause  or  motive  which  they  state  for  having 
conferred  the  honour  upon  me,  viz.  my  good  services  in 
the  campaign  of  Andalusia.  As  His  Eoyal  Highness  has 
approved  of  the  rank  given  to  Doyle,  I  flatter  myself  that 
he  will  have  no  objection  to  my  holding  the  commission 
in  the  Spanish  service.  I  understand  that  it  is  General 
Castanos'  intention  to  give  me  the  command  of  a  regiment 
of  hussars.  This  will  not  prevent  his  continuing  me  upon 
his  Staff,  and  he  has  appointed  me  his  first  aide-de-camp. 
In  regard  to  my  promotion  [in  the  British  service].  Lord 
Castlereagh  has  remitted  to  General  Castanos  a  very  hand- 
some letter  from  His  Eoyal  Highness  the  Duke  of  York, 
in  which  he  is  pleased  to  say  that  His  Majesty  will  be  glad 
to  promote  me  as  soon  as  I  have  my  standing.' — 

On  the  6th  November,  a  week  after  the  above  letter 
was  written.  Colonel  Whittingham  was  attacked  in  Tudela 
by  rheumatic  fever,  which  totally  deprived  him  of  the  use 
of  his  limbs.  He  was  thus  compulsorily  absent  from  the 
battle  near  that  town  which  took  place  on  the  23rd  of  the 
same  month  ;  and  was  saved  the  chagrin  of  witnessing  the 
defeat  of  his  gallant  chief  and  comrades  on  that  unlucky 
day.     But  let  him  speak  from  his  '  EecoUections  : ' — 

'  Before  the  battle  of  Tudela,  I  had  been  attacked  by 
rheumatic  fever,  and  confined  to  my  bed  for  many  days. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  action,  General  Graham*  called 

*  From  this  it  would  appear  that  General  Graham  (afterwards  Lord 
Lynedoch)  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Tudela ;  no  doubt  as  a  volunteer. 
No  English  troops  were  then  in  Spain,  and  Sir  A.  Wellesley  was  in  London 
giving  evidence  on  the  Court  of  Enquiry  regarding  the  Convention  of  Cintra. 


FEVER   AT   TUDELA.  47 

on  me  to  say  that  all  was  lost,  and  that  I  must  be  moved 
forthwith,  or  I  should  be  taken  prisoner.  As  all  my 
horses  were  too  gay  and  unsteady  for  a  sick  man,  the 
General  had  brought  one  of  his  own,  a  strong  steady 
horse,  quite  equal  to  my  weight.  A  pillow  was  placed 
on  the  saddle,  and  I  was  carried  downstairs,  and  lifted 
into  it.  I3ut  my  sufferings  were  beyond  human  endur- 
ance ;  and  after  proceeding  about  three  miles  to  the 
village  of  Ablitas,  I  was  taken  off  the  saddle,  and  thrown 
on  a  mattress. 

'  About  ten  o'clock  at  night.  General  Castanos  and  the 
principal  officers  of  his  Staff  arrived.  We  had  been  com- 
pletely defeated,  were  in  full  retreat  upon  Cuen9a,  and  the 
French  pursuing.  The  General  directed  that  I  should  be 
carried  downstairs,  and  placed  on  a  mattress  in  a  little 
covered  cart,  which  had  been  secured ;  and  that,  without 
a  moment's  loss  of  time,  I  should  proceed  on  the  road  to 
Cuen9a.  The  whole  of  my  body  was  at  that  time  so 
inflamed  with  rheumatism  that  I  could  only  be  turned  in 
bed  by  lifting  up  the  sheets  on  which  I  was  extended. 
Yet  in  this  dolorous  state  I  was  forced  to  make  a  journey 
of  three  hundred  miles  in  a  cart  without  springs,  in  the 
depth  of  winter,  and  over  abominable  mountain  roads. 

'  Castanos  had  kindly  directed  his  principal  medical 
officer  to  accompany  me  to  Cuen^a ;  and  one  very  cold 
morning  before  daylight.  Doctor  Turlan  (that  was  his 
name)  requested  that  I  would  permit  him  to  enter  the 
cart,  and  share  my  mattress  with  him.  I  readily  con- 
sented. But  we  had  not  proceeded  half  a  mile  when  the 
cart  was  overturned,  and  pitched  down  a  precipice.  In 
the  fall,  the  unfortunate  medico  got  under  the  mattress, 
and  as  Santiago  (S.  W.)  with  his  feather  weight  remained 
upon  it,  the  poor  doctor  was  nearly  suffocated.  His  cries 
and  screeches  were  quite  terrific.  "  For  the  love  of  God, 
Seiior  Don  Santiago,"  shouted  he,  "  I  am  stifled,  I  am 
suffocated !     For  the  love  of  the  most  Holy  Virgin,  I  be- 


48  MEMOIR   or   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

seech  you  to  get  up,  or  I  shall  die!"  "  Dearest  Turlan,"* 
I  replied,  ''  you  see  that  I  am  totally  incapable  of  move- 
ment ;  so  that,  if  it  should  appear  that  your  last  hour  is 
arrived,  recommend  yourself  to  God  ;  for  from  human  aid 
you  have  nothing  to  expect." 

'  The  arrival  of  a  few  straggling  soldiers  put  off  the 
doctor's  evil  hour.  They  dragged  me  out  by  the  feet, 
and  again  set  the  cart  upright,  but  nothing  could  induce 
Turlan  to  re- occupy  a  share  of  my  mattress. 

'  On  the  loss  of  the  battle  of  Tudela,  Castanos  was 
superseded,  and  directed  to  appear  at  Seville  before  the 
Supreme  Junta.* 

'  The  Conde  of  MontijOj  a  grandee  of  the  first  class, 
but  a  man  of  infamous  character,  and  a  personal  enemy 
of  Castanosj  preceded  him  by  some  days  on  the  road  to 
Seville,  and  spread  the  report  throughout  La  Mancha 
that  Castanos  was  a  traitor,  and  deserved  to  die.  At 
Miguel  Turra,  Castanos  was  billeted  at  the  house  of  a 
curate,  to  whose  firmness  and  presence  of  mind  he  owed 
his  life.  Deceived  by  the  lies  of  Montijo,  an  infuriated 
mob  assembled  before  the  house  of  the  curate,  and  de- 
manded their  victim.  But  Castaiios  had  already  passed 
through  the  garden  by  a  back  door,  and  had  been  con- 
veyed to  a  secret  spot ;  where  his  horses  and  servants 
were  waiting. 

'  A  few  weeks  after  this  occurrence,  I  was  sent  by  the 
Duke  of  Infantado  to  Seville,  and  had  to  pass  through 
Miguel  Turra.  An  immense  crowd  was  assembled  in 
the  Plaza,  and  I  advanced  on  horseback  into  the  midst. 
They  asked,  "What  news  of  the  traitor  Castanos.^"  and 
I  was  happy  to  have  an  opportunity  of  speaking  on  the 
subject. 

'  "  Gentlemen,"  said  I,  "  I  am  grieved,  astonished,  and 

*  Queridisimo  Turlan, 

t  The  Junta  performed  the  supersession  gently  and  politely ;  pretending- 
that  they  wanted  the  aid  of  General  Castanos  as  a  counsellor. 


EFFECTIVE   SPEECH    TO    A    SPANISH    MOB.  49 

deeply  afflicted,  to  see  so  many  good  and  worthy  men  so 
easily  duped  and  led  astray  by  the  lying  inventions  of  one 
of  the  vilest  of  men.  Castanos  commanded  the  Campo  de 
Gibraltar  before  the  present  struggle  commenced.  The 
French  did  everything  in  their  power  to  gain  him  over  to 
their  party.  But  he  met  their  intrigues  by  assembling 
the  forces  of  Andalusia,  and  gaining  the  battle  of  Baylen. 
I  saw  17,500  French  soldiers  lay  down  their  arms,  and 
surrender  themselves  prisoners  of  war  to  this  very  General 
Castaiios.  He  then  proceeded  to  Madrid,  and  organized 
and  commanded  the  army  which  a  superior  French  force 
has  now  defeated  at  Tudela.  But,  be  it  known  unto  you, 
gentlemen,  that  the  General  was  obliged  to  fight  this 
battle,  against  his  own  better  judgment,  by  orders  from 
the  Supreme  Junta.  For  he  was  well  aware  that  an 
army  of  newly  raised  levies  could  ill  compete  with  the 
veteran  troops  of  ISFapoleon.  This  same  Castanos,  your 
best,  your  most  devoted,  friend,  you,  gentlemen,  have 
wished  to  murder,  because  an  infamous  and  lying  coward, 
for  such  is  Montijo,  has  fled  from  the  field  of  battle  to 
denounce  him  here."  * 

'  The  boldness  of  my  address  evidently  surprised  them. 
A  murmur  of  consultation  ran  through  the  assembly ; 
when  a  voice  from  one  of  the  leading  men  exclaimed, 
"  When  the  Englishmaii  says  so,  it  must  be  true.''  f  A 
tremendous  shout  of  applause  confirmed  this  opinion ; 
and  I  was  carried  in  triumph  to  my  quarters,  proud  in- 
deed of  the  honour  done  to  my  countrymen's  integrity  by 
so  impartial  a  tribunal.' 

But  many  things  which  are  agreeable  as  'Eecollections ' 

*  If  the  conduct  of  the  Count  de  Montijo  was  actuated  by  a  partiality 
for  the  French,  it  has  met  with  an  unlooked-for  reward  to  his  family,  in 
the  elevation  of  the  fairest  and  best  of  the  Montijos  to  the  throne  of 
France. 

■j*  '  Quando  el  Ingles  lo  dice,  verdad  sera.'  No  doubt,  the  fluency  with 
which  the  English  dragoon  officer  addressed  them  in  their  own  language 
(by  surprising  and  pleasing  the  mob  of  Spaniards)  greatly  facilitated  the 
success  of  this  well-timed  oration. 

E 


50  MEMOIR   OF  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

are  unpleasant  enough  when  actually  occurring,  as  the 
following  letter,  written  at  the  period  in  question,  will 
demonstrate  : — 

'  Head-Quarters,  Cuen^a,  IQth  December ^  1808. 

'  My  dear  Davis, — A  rheumatic  fever  attacked  me  on 
the  6th  of  last  month  in  Tudela,  and  totally  deprived  me 
of  the  use  of  my  limbs.  I  will  not  now  enter  into  a 
detail  of  my  sufferings.  My  escape  was  miraculous.  In 
a  covered  cart,  I  have  followed  the  retreat  of  the  army. 
My  servants  were  daily  obliged  to  lift  me  in  and  out  of 
the  cart.  I  had  no  powers  of  motion,  and  the  pains 
which  I  suffered  were  intolerable.  The  army  retired  to 
Calatayud,  Siguenza,  Guadalaxara,  and  Cuen^a.  Our  rear 
was  warmly  pursued  by  the  French.  Madrid  has  capi- 
tulated. Buonaparte  is  now  collecting  all  his  force  to 
attack  Sir  John  Moore.  We  shall  probably  soon  advance 
towards  Madrid.  I  can  scarcely  hold  the  pen.  Let  this 
plead  in  excuse  for  not  writing  to  Colonel  Gordon,  to 
whom  you  will  please  to  communicate  this  letter.  I  shall 
not  abandon  the  Spanish  army  as  long  as  I  consider  that 
my  communications  with  Mr.  Frere  can  be  useful  to  the 
service  of  my  country.' 

The  prospect  of  affairs  in  Spain  in  the  absence  of  Sir 
Arthur  Wellesley,  and  with  General  Cuesta  as  chief  of  the 
principal  Spanish  army,  were  now  gloomy  enough  to  ex- 
cite very  serious  apprehensions  of  many  coming  disasters 
and  defeats. 

At  some  period  in  1808,  which  the  Editor  is  unfortu- 
nately unable  to  particularize,  Colonel  Whittingham  cer- 
tainly met  Lord  William  T3entinck  for  the  first  time  at 
Aranjuez^  and  assisted  his  Lordship  in  certain  negotia- 
tions with  the  Spanish  Government  in  that  town,  for  the 
fact  (as  the  reader  will  find)  is  recorded  by  him  more 
than  twenty  years  afterwards,  after  having,  for  the  third 
time,  acted  officially  under  that  distinguished  and  excel- 
lent nobleman. 


LETTER   TO    HIS   BROTHER-IN-LAW.  51 


CHAPTEE  IV. 

1809. 

THE  DUKE  OE  INEANTADO'S  COMMISSION — THE  DUKE's  RETREAT — THE 
CHIVALROUS  DUKE  OF  ALBURQUERQUE — SURPRISE  OF  MORA — AN  EX- 
CITING CHASE — A  FOX-LIKE  RUSE — A  HORRIBLE  INCIDENT — A  CUNNINa 
COUNTESS — A  COMPLETE  HUMBUG — A  MODEST  TESTAMENTARY  REQUEST- 
LETTER  TO  MR.  J.  HOOKHAM  FRERE — BAD  CONDUCT  OF  GENERAL  URBINA 
— HIS  DISGRACEFUL  ROUT— ALBURQUERQUE's  TREATMENT  OF  TRAITORS — 
GALLANT  CHARGE  OF  ALBURQUERQUE  AND  STAFF  AT  MEDELLIN — ALAVA'S 
HEROISM — REFORMING  ROUTED  CAVALRY  UNFORTUNATELY  LOST  LETTERS 
— ALBURQUERQUE's  LAUDATORY  LETTERS  TO  DUKE  OF  YORK  AND  LORD 
CASTLEREAGH — CONTRADICTORY  ORDERS  OF  SPANISH  GOVERNMENT — 
LETTERS  TO  MR.  HOOKHAM  FRERE — A  PROPHECY  DESTINED  TO  SPEEDY 
FULFILMENT — GENERAL  CUESTA's  EARLIEST  BRITISH  CRITIC — A  CONSTANT 
SOURCE  OF  ANNOYANCE — SIR  A.  WELLESLEY'S  RETURN  TO  THE  PENINSULA 
— BRIGADIER-GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM'S  LETTER  TO  DUKE  OF  KENT- 
HARMONY  OF  FRERE  AND  WHITTINGHAM — MARQUIS  WELLESLEY's  OPINION 
OF  WHITTINGHAM — DUKE  OF  KENT's  LETTER  TO  MR.  DAVIS  CONCERNING 
BRIGADIER- GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM — LOST  ROYAL  LETTERS — INTERVIEW 
WITH  SIR  ARTHUR  WELLESLEY — MEETING  OF  GENERAL  CUESTA  AND 
SIR  A.  WELLESLEY — WHITTINGHAM's  MISSION  TO  CUESTA — NARROW  ES- 
CAPE  OF   SIR   ARTHUR  WELLESLEY— HIS   REMARKS    TO   WHITTINGHAM — 

COLONEL  Roche's  letter  on  talavera — sir  a.  wellesley's  dispatch 

— A  glaring   injustice — A   TRUTHFUL   COMPARISON. 

The  commencement  of  a  new  year  found  Colonel  Whit- 
tingham  at  Seville  recovering  his  health,  having  been 
sent  there  by  the  Duke  of  Infantado.  We  continue  the 
fraternal  correspondence : — 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  Seville,  l^th  January,  1809. 

'  I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  my  health  is 
tolerably  re-established,  and  that  I  shall  again  set  off  for 
head-quarters  in  a  few  days.  You  axe  not  to  imagine 
that  I  should  have  quitted  the  army  for  anything  relative 

B  2 


52  MEMOIR  OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

to  myself.  The  Duke  of  Infantado  requested  that  I  would 
go  to  Seville  on  a  particular  commission,  which,  I  am 
happy  to  say,  I  have  executed  to  his  satisfaction ;  and  I 
have  now  no  other  anxiety  but  that  of  again  entering  the 
field  of  Mars  with  all  possible  expedition.  I  shall  enter 
into  no  details  upon  our  late  unfortunate  campaign,  be- 
cause I  have  to  remit  to  Colonel  Gordon  by  the  next  post 
General  Castanos'  defence  of  his  conduct  as  laid  before 
the  Supreme  Junta.' 

To  the  Same. 

'  Seville,  20th  January,  1809. 

'  My  dear  Davis  will  rejoice  to  hear  that  this  fine 
climate  has  operated  a  most  favourable  change  on  my 
health.  I  am,  thank  God,  once  again  fit  for  the  field ; 
and  I  love  to  flatter  myself  that  fate  will  throw  in  my 
way  some  opportunity  to  distinguish  myself. 

'  21.9^. — On  the  13th  and  14th,  the  advanced  guard  of 
the  Duke  of  Infantado,  at  Tarancon  and  Uccles,  was  at- 
tacked by  the  French  in  force,  and  obliged  to  retire  upon 
Cuen9a,  our  head-quarters.  For  the  last  three  days,  we 
have  received  no  news  from  the  army.  It  is  sadly  to  be 
lamented  that  the  Duke  had  not  quitted  the  position  of 
Cuen^a  long  since.  It  was  proposed  and  strongly  urged 
that  the  army  should  immediately  advance  to  Ocaiia  and 
Toledo  as  early  as  the  29th  of  last  month.  The  advan- 
tages of  this  movement  were  clearly  pointed  out,*  and 
the  Duke  appeared  determined  to  advance.  Cuenga  is 
in  itself  a  bad  position,  and  the  retreat  towards  Anda- 
lusia impracticable,  at  least  for  the  artillery.  Twenty-six 
leagues  is  the  distance  from  Cuen9a  to  Manzanares,  the 
first  town  on  the  high-road  to  Seville.  The  road  is  so 
excessively  bad  and  heavy  that  I  was  ten  hours  making 

*  By  himself,  no  doubt.  All  his  Spanish  commanders  appear  to  have 
listened  to  his  counsels  ;  but  few,  except  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque,  fol- 
lowed them. 


THE   CHIVALROUS   DUKE    OF   ALBURQUERQUE.  53 

three  leagues  in  a  light  carriage  with  five  mules,  I  set 
off  for  the  army  on  Thursday  next.  My  health  is  quite 
re-established.  Be  assured,  my  dear  Davis,  that,  however 
we  may  be  beat  for  the  present,  we  shall  ultimately  drive 
the  French  out  of  Spain.  I  cannot  tell  you  with  what 
delight  I  look  forward  to  my  return  to  the  army.  I  really 
am  never  quite  happy  but  in  active  campaign.' 

When  the  Duke  of  Infantado  left  Madrid  on  2nd  De- 
cember, 1809,  to  join  the  army  commanded,  since  the 
departure  of  Castanos,  by  Lieutenant-General  La  Pena, 
the  latter  most  generously  caused  the  Duke  to  be  elected 
to  the  chief  command.  Infantado  had  been  accompanied 
from  Madrid  by  the  young,  patriotic,  and  chivalrous 
Joseph  Maria  de  la  Cueva  Duke  of  Alburquerque  ;*  a 
man  beloved  by  his  officers  and  soldiers,  and  having  for 
enemies  only  the  baser  and  meaner  of  his  countrymen, 
who  were  governed  by  their  jealousies  or  other  malignant 
passions.  If,  as  was  the  case  with  the  Spanish  nobility 
generally,  his  education  had  not  been  neglected,  he  might 
have  made  a  greater  figure  in  history ;  and  as  it  was, 
he  left  a  name  second  to  none  amongst  his  countrymen 
at  that  period.  Colonel  Whittingham,  from  the  first, 
admired  and  loved  him,  and  all  the  more  because  the 
Duke  rarely  displayed  the  obstinacy  so  common  amongst 
his  countrymen,  and  only  required  to  hear  in  order  to 
take  good  advice.  What  follows  is  from  the  already 
quoted  '  EecoUections  ;' — 

'  On  my  return  from  Seville,  I  was  attached  to  the 
corps  d'armee  under  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque  in  La 
Mancha,  w^here  we  had  many  affairs  of  cavalry,  as  the 
Duke  had  under  his  command  3,500  horse  and  two 
troops  of  horse  artillery. 

'  At  Mora,  the  French  had  a  detachment  of  600  cavalry. 

*  In  this  work  the  spelling  of  Spanish  names  by  Colonel  Gurwood  is 
adopted,  as  that  officer  took  much  pains  to  acquire  accuracy  in  that  matter ; 
whilst  compiling  the  Wellington  Diwatches. 


54  MEMOIR   OF  SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

The  Duke  advanced  to  surprise  the  post  with  1,500  horse. 
We  bivouacked  a  few  miles  from  their  outposts  without 
being  discovered ;  and  before  dayhght  we  were  upon 
them.  The  surprise  was  complete.  They  lost  160  men, 
and  fled  at  full  speed. 

'  Amongst  the  foremost  of  the  pursuers  was  a  servant 
of  mine,  a  young  Irish  lad  [named  Charles],  whom  I 
had  dressed  up  as  a  hussar.  He  fixed  his  eye  upon  a 
well-dressed  middle-aged  man,  well  mounted  and  appa- 
rently well  fed.  Charles  was  satisfied  that  he  would  turn 
out  a  good  prize.  Both  horses  were  excellent ;  and  both 
were  urged  to  the  top  of  their  speed  by  the  pursuer  and 
the  pursued.  But  my  hussar  had  the  advantage  of  a 
lighter  weight,  and  was  gaining  fast  upon  his  adversary, 
when  the  Frenchman  turned  round  upon  his  saddle,  and 
fired  a  pistol  at  him  ;  which  was  soon  followed  by  a 
second  shot.  Both  shots,  however,  missed  their  object, 
and  the  old  soldier  was  reduced  to  his  last  shift,  which 
was,  however,  a  good  one.  Judging  from  the  appear- 
ance of  his  pursuer  that  his  object  would  be  plunder,  he 
drew  a  knife  from  his  pocket  and  cut  the  straps  which 
fastened  his  portmanteau.  The  portmanteau  then  fell 
to  the  ground,  and  Charles  immediately  reined  up,  and 
secured  his  prize,  which  contained  a  brace  of  pistols  and 
a  good  stock  of  clothes. 

'  Amongst  the  variety  of  incidents  of  this  exciting  day, 
an  occurrence  took  place  which  we  all  deeply  lamented. 
A  remarkably  fine  young  woman,  apparently  about  seven- 
teen or  eighteen  years  of  age,  was  making  her  escape 
from  Mora  in  an  open  carriage,  belonging  to  the  French 
General  commanding.  Some  of  our  cavalry  attempted 
to  arrest  her  progress.  She  immediately  fired  a  pistol  at 
the  nearest  soldier,  and  in  return  received  from  him  a 
coup  de  sabre  which  almost  divided  her  head  from  her 
body.  In  a  moment  she  was  stripped  with  that  dexterity 
pecuHar  to  soldiers,  and  her  body  left  on  the  road. 


A   CUNNING   COUNTESS.  55 

'  On  our  return  to  Mora,  we  were  quartered  in  the 

house  of  the  Countess  de ,  whose  previous  guest  had 

been  the  French  General  commanding.  The  enthusiasm 
of  the  lady  was  beyond  description.  She  thanked  the 
Blessed  Virgin  for  her  miraculous  escape  from  perdition, 
and  declared  her  determination  to  avail  herself  of  the 
happy  opportunity  of  returning  to  the  paternal  house, 
which  our  arrival  afforded.  Her  gratitude  to  Heaven 
and  to  us  knew  no  bounds.  Orders  were  immediately 
given  to  pack  up  all  her  plate  and  jewels.  A  splendid 
dinner  was  prepared  by  the  major-domo.  The  only 
carriage  in  the  place  and  six  mules  were  employed  by 
the  Duke's  order  for  her  conveyance,  and  the  hour  of 
departure  was  fixed  for  four  o'clock  on  the  following 
morning. 

'  Our  party  consisted  of  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque, 
Alava,*  and  myself.  The  Duke  retired  to  rest  at  nine. 
But  I  felt  uneasy  that  our  departure  should  have  been 
put  off  till  the  morning,  and  I  submitted  to  Alava  that  it 
was  always  a  point  of  honour  with  the  French  to  return 
a  surprise  with  the  least  possible  delay.  [I  added]  that 
their  force  in  cavalry  and  horse  artillery  in  our  immediate 
neighbourhood  was  very  considerable ;  and  that  to  effect 
our* retreat,  we  must  pass  through  a  long  and  narrow 
defile,  which  commenced  at  the  entrance  of  Mora,  and 
that,  if  attacked  during  the  passage,  confusion  and  com- 
plete defeat  would  be  the  inevitable  consequences,  and  the 
Duke's  character  as  a  soldier  lost.  I  proposed,  therefore, 
that  we  should  awake  the  Duke,  and  submit  to  him  the 
expediency  of  our  commencing  our  retreat  forthwith. 
Alava  coincided  in  my  view  of  our  position.  We  awoke 
the  General,  and  orders  were  immediately  given  to  put 
the  troops  in  motion. 

*  Afterwards  General  Alava  (a  favourite  of  Lord  Wellington  and  on  his 
personal  staff')  j  eventually  Spanish  ambassador  in  Loudon  about  thirty 
years  later. 


56  MEMOIR   OF  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  The  chivalrous  feehngs  of  the  Duke  and  of  Alava  did 
not  permit  their  forgetting  the  perilous  position  of  the 
disconsolate  Countess.  The  carriage  was  ordered  to  the 
door,  and  her  servants  were  directed  to  finish  the  packing 
with  all  expedition.  But,  alas !  the  Countess  had  fainted ; 
and  when  she  came  to  herself,  she  broke  out  into  the  most 
bitter  lamentations  against  her  cruel  destiny.  "Alas!" 
she  exclaimed,  "  by  this  time  to-morrow  I  shall  have 
ceased  to  exist.  For  the  French,  on  their  return,  will 
assuredly  put  me  to  death  as  a  traitress  and  a  spy.  But, 
happen  what  may,  how  is  it  possible  that  a  poor  little 
delicate  thing  like  me  should  be  able  to  suffer  the  priva- 
tions, the  miseries,  the  hardships,  of  a  camp  follower  ? 
It  cannot  be.  I  am  well  aware  of  the  cruel  death  that 
awaits  me  on  the  return  of  the'French ;  but  there  is  no 
remedy,  and  if  my  last  hour  is  come,  it  is  better  for  me  to 
die  in  my  own  house  and  bed  than  in  the  fields ! "  A 
more  complete  humbug  I  never  saw!  Thus  ended  a 
comedy  worthy  of  Caviilla  and  Don  Rafael;  and  the 
Countess,  laughing  [secretly]  at  the  simplicity  of  our 
hearts  and  heads,  dedicated  herself  forthwith  to  the  pre- 
paration of  an  excellent  breakfast  for  the  French  General 
on  his  return. 

'  Our  accelerated  retreat  was  fortunate.  We  had 
scarcely  cleared  the  defile  when  our  rear-guard  was 
attacked.' 

Thus  was  the  gallant  Spanish  Duke  and  his  party  saved 
by  the  vigilance  of  their  English  comrade.* 

On  the  30th  January,  1809,  he  relates  to  Mr.  Davis  the 
particulars  of  the  defeat  at  Uccles  of  General  Venegas, 
and  adds,  '  The  Duke  of  Infantado's  want  of  decision 
was  the  cause  of  this  misfortune.'  The  Duke  had  been 
repeatedly  advised  to  advance  and  support  Venegas,  who 

*  Doubtless  this  was  one  of  Samford  Whittingham's  '  services  in  the  early- 
part  of  the  war,  the  importance  of  which  was  passed  over  or  little  known,* 
—See  the  Earl  of  Fife's  letter  in  Preface. 


LETTER  TO  HIS   BROTHER-IK-LAW.  57 

was  sure  to  be  attacked,  but  took  no  notice  of  the  warn- 
ing. In  consequence  he  was  ordered  to  join  General 
Urbina,  Count  of  Cartaojal,  and  to  serve  under  him  as 
part  of  the  army  of  the  Carohna.  This  supersession  took 
place  on  the  18th  February.  But  General  Urbina  proved 
to  be  a  far  worse  commander  than  the  Duke  he  super- 
seded, as  will  be  hereafter  demonstrated. 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

*  Head-Qt7Akters,  La  Carolina,  \2th  Fehtiary,  1809. 

'  The  French  are  advancing  against  General  Cuesta  in 
force,  certainly  not  less  than  20,000  men.  Their  head- 
quarters on  the  5th  were  at  Oropesa.  Their  advanced 
posts  occupied  the  bridge  of  the  Arzobispo.  General 
Cuesta  had  his  head-quarters  at  Truxillo ;  his  advanced 
posts  at  the  bridge  of  Almaraz.  A  division  of  Portuguese 
and  English  was  stationed  at  Alcantara,  a  force  of  from 
12,000  to  14,000  men.  Cuesta's  army  is  about  the  same 
strength.  A  part  of  the  French  army  from  Galicia  had 
directed  its  march  upon  Ciudad  Eodrigo.  On  the  5th, 
they  had  arrived  at  Martin  del  Eio,  distant  from  Ciudad 
Eodrigo  ten  leagues. 

'  The  moment  you  cast  your  eye  upon  the  map,  you 
will  see  the  danger  of  General  Cuesta's  position.  Our 
advanced  guard  will  march  to-night  upon  Toledo,  be  sup- 
ported by  a  second  division,  and  followed  by  the  whole 
army.  The  total  strength  of  this  army,  now  called  tlie 
army  of  the  Carohna,  including  the  remains  of  the  army 
of  the  centre,  amounts  to  nearly  30,000  men.  Our  move- 
ment will  call  the  attention  of  the  French ;  and  even  if 
we  arrive  too  late  to  save  General  Cuesta,  it  will  prevent 
them  following  up  the  advantage  which  they  have  ob- 
tained. I  have  no  comments  to  make  on  our  probable 
success. 

'  As  soon  as  I  receive  Mr.  [Hookham]  Frere's  answer, 


58  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

I  intend  to  ask  General  Urbina's  leave  to  join  the  advanced 
guard.* 

'  Adieu,  my  dear  Davis,  and  as  I  once  before  told  you, 
if  we  meet  no  more  on  this  side  of  the  famous  river,  don't 
forget  to  drink  a  glass  of  your  best  wine  to  my  memory 
once  a  year.' 

To  the  Same, 

'  Head-Qxjartees  of  the  Advanced  Guard, 

'  CiTJDAD  Real,  13th  March,  1809. 

'  Our  head- quarters  are  changed  from  Manzanares  to 
this  place,  in  consequence  of  the  movements  of  the  enemy. 

'  I  cannot  account  for  the  long  silence  of  my  friends  in 
England.  Your  last  letter  was  dated  November.  Since 
that  period  I  have  not  heard  one  word  from  you,  or  any- 
one on  that  side  of  the  water.' — 

There  is  too  much  reason  to  believe  that  a  great  num- 
ber of  letters  addressed  to  Colonel  Whittingham,  in  the 
course  of  the  Peninsular  War,  never  reached  him.  But 
at  this  time,  after  the  departure  of  the  army  of  Sir  John 
Moore  from  Coruiia,  and  during  the  prolonged  absence 
of  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  from  Portugal,  the  means  of  con- 
veying English  letters  into  the  interior  appears  to  have 
been  equally  rare  and  hazardous. 

Colonel  Whittingham  to  the  Bight  Hon.  John  Uookham 
Frere^  H.M.'s  Minister  in  Spain. 

^  CiuDAD  Real,  Head-Quaeters  of  the 

'  Advanced  Guard,  Vlth  March,  1809. 

'  Sir, — The  repeated  advices  of  all  the  confidential 
agents  employed  by  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque  to  watch 
the  movements  of  the  enemy  confirm,  beyond  the  possi- 
bihty  of  doubt,  the  march  of  the  French  towards  Talavera, 

*  This  determination,  to  "be  always  in  front,  never  slackened.  The  risk, 
with  such  troops  as  theSpanish  then  were,  was  self-evident. 


LETTER   TO   MR.  HOOKIIAM    FRERE.  59 

and  the  certainty  that  the  expected  attack  upon  General 
Cuesta  will  immediately  take  place. 

'  Our  Commander-in-Chief,  General  Urbina,  has  re- 
jected the  proposition  of  the  Duke  [of  Alburquerque]  to 
allow  him  to  advance  upon  Toledo  with  a  division  of 
12,000  or  15,000  infantry,  4,000  cavalry,  and  twenty 
pieces  of  artillery.  The  General-in-Chief  considers  the 
organization  of  the  main  body  of  the  army  as  an  object 
of  more  importance,  and  the  arguments  of  the  Duke  to 
convince  him  that  this  organization  would  be  secured 
rather  than  impeded  by  his  proposed  movement  have 
been  of  no  effect. 

You  may  rest  assured,  sir,  that  there  is  no  time  to  be 
lost,  and  if  the  Junta  Suprema  does  not  come  to  a  speedy 
determination,  and  immediately  communicate  decisive 
orders  in  consequence,  it  is  sadly  to  be  feared  that 
General  Cuesta  will  be  defeated  by  the  superior  force 
which  he  will  have  to  contend  with,  viz.  from  30,000  to 
35,000  men. 

'  You  will  recollect  the  effect  produced  by  the  expedi- 
tion to  Mora,  and  the  retrograde  movement  made  by  the 
French  troops  in  Estremadura  in  consequence.  Surely, 
the  same  arguments  which  were  then  made  use  of  by 
General  Urbina,  to  induce  the  Duke  of  Infantado  to  con- 
sent to  the  advance  of  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque,  exist 
in  the  present  case  in  even  greater  force,  inasmuch  as  our 
means  of  offence  are  greater,  and  the  dispositions  of  the 
enemy  to  attack  General  Cuesta  more  formidable. 

'  I  shall  only  add  that  the  confidence  of  the  officers  and 
men  in  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque  affords  the  best- 
founded  hopes  of  the  fortunate  result  of  the  proposed 
expedition. 

'  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  the  highest  respect, 
'Sir, 

'  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

'  Samford  Whittingham. 


60  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

*  P.S. — It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  point  out  the  advan- 
tages of  the  proposed  movement,  should  the  fortune 
of  war  favour  General  Cuesta,  and  the  French  be  re- 
pulsed. The  unexpected  appearance  of  the  Duke's  divi- 
sion upon  the  rear  or  flank  of  a  defeated  enemy  would 
probably  prove  as  decisive  as  the  combined  march  of  the 
columns  in  the  battle  of  Baylen. 

'  s.  w; 

From  the  Same  to  the  Same. 

'  C1TJBA.D  Keal,  Head-Quarters  op  the 
'  Advanced  Guard,  20th  March,  1809. 

*  Sir, — In  consequence  of  the  orders  from  the  Junta 
Suprema,  the  whole  of  the  disposable  force  of  this  army 
will  immediately  advance  upon  Toledo,  in  order  to  effect 
a  diversion  in  favour  of  General  Cuesta.  The  Count  of 
Cartaojal  [General  Urbina],  at  the  same  time  that  he 
communicated  this  order  to  tlie  Duke  of  Alburquerque, 
directed  him  to  deliver  up  the  command  to  Brigadier- 
General  Don  Juan  Bernuy,  and  with  the  division  of 
Brigadier  Don  Luis  Bapcourt,  and  that  of  Don  Pedro 
Echavari,  to  march  immediately  to  Guadalupe  to  co- 
operate with  the  army  of  Estremadura. 

'  Thus,  at  the  moment  that  the  plan  proposed  by  the 
Duke  is  about  to  be  executed,  he  is  deprived  of  the  com- 
mand of  the  vanguard,  and  exposed  to  risk  his  military 
reputation  at  the  head  of  a  small  body  of  newly  raised 
"nfantry  without  cavalry  or  artillery.  It  is  to  be  feared 
hat  the  absence  of  their  favourite  General  may  produce 
a  bad  effect  upon  the  troops.  At  aU  events  little  or  nothing 
can  be  expected  in  favour  of  General  Cuesta  from  the 
small  corps  entrusted  to  the  command  of  the  Duke. 

'  I  cannot  avoid  expressing  my  sentiments  with  freedom 
at  this  interesting  moment.  I  conceive  that  the  Duke 
has  fallen  a  sacrifice  to  his  too  great  popularity  with  the 
troops ;  and  I  sincerely  lament  that  the  army  should  be 


BAD   CONDUCT  OF   GENERAL   URBINA.  61 

deprived  of  the  valuable  military  talents  of  this  officer. 
It  is  not  to  be  expected,  after  what  has  passed,  that 
the  Duke  will  accept  any  command  under  the  Count  de 
Cartaojal. 

'  According  to  the  advices  received  to-day  from  Sevil- 
leja,  the  French  had  passed  Estrella  to  attack  a  division 
of  the  army  under  the  command  of  General  Cuesta,  which 
occupied  the  position  of  Valdevilacasa.  It  is  therefore 
very  possible  that  the  movement  upon  Toledo  may  be 
now  too  late,  and  should  General  Cuesta  be  defeated, 
much  evil,  instead  of  good,  may  result  from  it. 

'  On  the  loth  of  this  month,  the  Duke  proposed  to  the 
General-in-Chief  to  make  this  diversion  in  favour  of  General 
Cuesta.  At  that  moment  there  could  be  no  doubt  that 
the  army  of  Estremadura  would  have  been  saved  by  our 
advance  upon  Aranjuez  and  Toledo.  At  present  the  result 
is  doubtful,  and  may  be  fatal. 

'  The  Duke  begins  his  march  to-morrow  towards  Gua- 
dalupe, and  I  shall  take  care  to  inform  you  most  exactly 
of  everything  that  occurs. 

'  I  have,  &c.  &c. 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

The  contemptible  conduct  of  General  Urbina  was  not 
long  in  bringing  deserved  retribution  upon  him,  in  the 
form  of  a  disastrous  and  crushing  defeat,  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  his  supersession  in  the  chief  command  by  General 
Venegas  : — ' 

Colonel  Whittingham  to  his  Brother-in-law. 

*  Seville,  4^A  Aprils  1809. 
'  You  will  see  by  all  the  enclosed  papers  the  chain  of 
evils,  and  the  gross  misconduct,  which  have  completely 
destroyed  our  well-founded  hopes  of  soon  re-occupying 
the  capital  of  Spain.  General  Urbina,  Count  of  Cartao- 
jal, has  betrayed  his  country,  and  fled  in  disgrace  with 


62  MEMOIR   OF  SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

30,000  infantry  and  5,000  cavalry  before  2,000  French 
horse. 

'  The  Duke  of  Alburquerque  has  been  sacrificed  to  the 
envy  and  jealousy  of  General  Urbina.  Cuesta  has  fought 
bravely,  but  unfortunately.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  being 
with  the  Duke  in  this  action  [the  battle  of  Medellin].  At 
last  the  eyes  of  the  Junta  Suprema  are  opened.  Urbina 
is  deprived  of  his  command,  and  the  Duke  appointed 
temporarily  to  the  command  of  the  army  of  the  Carolina. 
Things  do  not  look  well.  But  if  I  can  carry  the  point 
which  I  have  in  view,  viz.  that  our  total  force,  amounting 
to  at  least  40,000  infantry  and  8,000  cavalry,  shall  be 
immediately  concentrated,  I  have  yet  my  hopes.  If  not, 
depend  upon  it,  all  is  lost.  We  leave  this  place  to-mor- 
row at  daybreak  for  the  army.  We  have  been  here  a 
few  hours  to  make  arrangements  with  the  Government. 
Have  the  goodness  to  get  Mr.  Murdoch  to  translate  the 
enclosed  papers,  and  lay  them  before  Lord  Castlereagh 
and  Colonel  Gordon.  I  have  not  heard  from  you  since 
January.' 

The  battle  of  Medelhn  was  fought  on  the  28th  March, 
1809,  and  was  one  of  General  Cuesta's  numerous  defeats. 
That  stupid  and  obstinate,  but  very  brave  and  indefati- 
gable, old  General  fought  the  battle  with  his  usual  con- 
tempt of  tactics  and  prudence,  and  yet  had  nearly  won  it 
by  the  bravery  of  the  infantry  but  for  the  gross  miscon- 
duct of  the  Spanish  cavalry.  Colonel  Whittingham,  being 
attached  to  the  staff  of  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque's  divi- 
sion, shared  his  fortunes  on  that  unfortunate  day.  We 
will  now  revert  to  his  '  Eecollections  :' — 

'  Previous  to  the  battle  of  Medellin,  the  Duke  of  Albur- 
querque was  directed  to  join  General  Cuesta  in  Estrema- 
dura  with  two  troops  of  horse  artillery  and  1,500  cavalry. 
On  our  route  we  came  to  a  small  town  which  had  become 
notorious  for  receiving   and  concealing  deserters.     The 


alburquerque's  treatment  of  traitors.         63 

Alcalde  and  the  Escribano*  were  deeply  implicated,  and 
the  Duke  was  determined  on  making  an  example.  They 
were,  therefore,  both  laid  hold  of,  and  placed  in  the 
grenadier  company  of  a  leading  battalion '  [to  expose  these 
compulsory  soldiers  to  the  greater  danger  in  action].  '  I 
saw  these  men  the  next  day,  as  we  were  moving  upon  the 
enemy  in  column  of  companies,  and  their  faces  are  even 
at  this  moment  completely  before  my  eyes.  I  never  had 
a  just  idea  of  the  personification  of  Fear  till  then.  Their 
countenances  were  literally  horror-struck ;  their  hair  stood 
on  end.  They  recognised  me  instantly,  and,  dropping 
on  their  knees,  they  shouted  out,  "Mercy,  Senor  Don 
Santiago,  for  the  love  of  God  and  of  the  Holy  Virgin, 
do  not  permit  this  sacrifice ! "  But  the  hard-hearted 
Santiago  was  implored  in  vain  ;  and  the  butt  ends  of  the 
soldiers'  muskets  soon  brought  them  on  their  feet  again. 
I  never  heard  what  became  of  them.  At  the  battle  of 
Medellin  the  defeat  was  complete ;  and  as  Victor  gave  no 
quarter,  they  probably  perished  with  the  rest.f 

'  When  everything  was  lost,  and  the  last  battalion 
broken  and  dispersed,  the  French  cavalry  formed  a  chain 
in  rear  of  the  Spanish  troops,  and  the  slaughter  com- 
menced. The  Duke  of  Alburquerque,  Alava,  Bigodet, 
Nazario  Eguia,  and  Santiago^  with  a  few  orderlies  and 
servants,  formed  a  little  group.  The  chain  was  closed 
around  us.  The  Duke,  turning  to  me,  said,  "  Santiago, 
do  you  see  that  smart  light  dragoon,  how  vain  he  is  ? 
Now,  be  assured  that  before  two  minutes  are  passed,  he 
will  be  under  my  horse's  feet ; "  %  and  putting  spurs  to 

*  The  Alcalde,  and  Escribano,  may  be  roughly  translated  into  the  Mayor 
and  Town  Clerk. 

t  This  appears  like  a  proof  that  even  the  gentle-hearted  Duke  of  Albur- 
querque could  steel  his  heart  in  active  service ;  but  the  fact  is  that,  at  such 
a  time,  no  Spanish  General  would  have  ventured  to  show  mercy  to  traitors. 

X  These  words  (written  from  memory  in  1840)  slightly  differ  from  those 
given  by  Southey,  who  at  an  earlier  period  doubtless  obtained  them  from  the 
letters  written  to  Colonel  Gordon,  the  Military  Secretary  at  the  Horse 
Guards,  by  the  subject  of  this  Memoir. 


64  MEMOIR   OF  SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

his  fine  Andalusian  horse,  he  charged  full  speed  upon  the 
chasseur,  followed,  of  course,  by  all  his  little  party.  The 
chasseur,  being  somewhat  of  FalstafF's  school,  held  pru- 
dence to  be  the  better  part  of  valour,  and  taking  ground 
rapidly  to  the  right — with  half  a  dozen  soldiers  who  fol- 
lowed his  salutary  example — a  hole  was  left  in  the  chain, 
through  which  we  instantly  passed  at  full  gallop.  The 
chase  after  us  was  long,  but  vainly  kept  up. 

'  A  wounded  artilleryman  whom  we  passed  called  out 
to  Alava,  "  Senor  Don  Miguel,  for  God's  sake,  help  me, 
or  I  am  lost !  I  am  badly  wounded,  and  you  see  the 
French  give  no  quarter."  "  Get  up  behind  me,"  said  the 
heroic  Alava ;  "  we  will  both  be  saved,  or  both  perish 
together." 

'  It  was  about  ten  at  night  when  we  arrived  at  a  soli- 
tary farm-house ;  and  having  made  a  bonnie  fire,  and  got 
a  dish  of  chocolate  and  a  cigar,  the  Spaniards  unanimously 
agreed,  "  The  more  we  lose  the  more  we  gain  ;  the 
Body  Politic  will  yet  require  much  blood-letting  before 
its  health  can  be  perfectly  restored !  "  * 

'  We  lost  at  Medelhn  14,000  men.  An  intimate  friend 
of  mine,  a  colonel  of  infantry,  had  two  sons  with  him  in 
the  action.  The  eldest,  under  eighteen  years  of  age,  was 
most  severely  wounded  by  the  dragoons  late  in  the  day. 
He  was  taken  to  Medellin,  and  to  the  quarters  of  the 
Commander-in-Chief,  just  as  Victor  was  sitting  down  to 
supper ;  who  graciously  informed  the  young  officer  of  the 
fate  intended  for  him  by  saying,  "  If  my  orders  had  been 
executed,  you  would  not  have  been  here  !  "  ' 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

<  CoEDOVA,  &h  April,  1809. 

'  My  dear  Davis, — In  the  actions  of  the  Duke  of  Albur- 
querque  in  La  Mancha,  the  troops  under  his  command 

*  'Quando  mas  se  pierde,  mas  se  gana,  y  que  muchas  sangrias  eran 
menester  para  restablecer  la  salud  del  cuerpo  politico  ! ' 


REFORMING   ROUTED   CAVALRY.  65 

were  covered  with  glory.  All  the  officers  of  his  Staff, 
including  me,  were  recommended  to  the  Government  for 
promotion.*  In  the  last  unfortunate  action  of  Medellin, 
I  had  an  opportunity  of  particularly  distinguishing  myself 
by  reforming  the  routed  cavalry  and  leading  them  against 
the  enemy.f  The  Duke  did  me  the  honour  to  speak  of 
my  conduct  in  the  field  in  the  highest  terms.  You  are 
yourself  well  aware  that  since  the  first  shot  was  fired  in 
Andalusia,  I  have  been  constantly  with  the  army,  and 
have  sought  every  occasion  of  rendering  myself  useful. 
Yet  I  am  the  only  officer  to  whose  promotion  the  Govern- 
ment has  objected.  The  reason  is  obvious  :  I  was  a  friend 
of  the  unfortunate  Castaiios,  and  all  his  friends  are  per- 
secuted. 

'  I  entreat,  therefore,  that  you  will  immediately  apply 
to  Colonel  Gordon  for  leave  to  join  my  regiment.  I  can 
no  longer  be  of  service  to  a  country  to  whose  Government 
I  am  become  obnoxious,  nor  am  I  accustomed  tamely  to 
suffer  the  insults  of  any  man  or  class  of  men.' 

To  the  Right  Hon,  J.  H,  Frere. 

*  Cordova,  llth  April,  1809. 

'  Sir, — I  observe  by  your  letter  of  the  7th,  which  has 
been  returned  to  me  from  the  Carolina,  that  you  consider 
the  Duke  [of  Alburquerque]  in  command  of  that  army, 
and  ready  to  realize  his  projected  plan  of  attack  against 
the  French  force  in  La  Mancha.  I  am  surprised  that  the 
Junta  Suprema  should  not  have  informed  you  that  a 
division  of  7,000  infantry  and  3,000  cavalry  began  its 
march  from  the  army  of  Sierra  Morena  on  the  5th,  and 

*  He  was  afterwards  made  Brigadier- General  by  the  Spanish  Government, 
with  date  from  2nd  March,  1809. 

t  Here,  no  doubt,  is  another  of  those  little  known  actions  referred  to  by 
Lord  Fife  {vide  Preface).  This  passing  allusion  to  his  having  rallied  the 
cavalry  at  Medellin  is  all  the  Editor  knows  on  the  subject.  The  lost  letters 
to  the  Military  Secretaries  at  the  TIorse-Guards  might  tell  more  of  what 
Lord  Fife  knew. 

F 


QQ  MEMOIR   OP  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

will  enter  Seville  the  day  after  to-morrow.  The  force 
which  now  composes  the  army  of  Sierra  Morena  consists 
of  16,000  infantry  and  2,000  cavalry,  and  is  commanded 
by  General  Venegas. 

'  Had  the  Duke  received  the  command  of  the  army  of 
Sierra  Morena  before  the  separation  of  the  above-mentioned 
division,  he  might  have  defeated  the  French  force  in  La 
Mancha,  and  immediately  afterwards  have  reinforced 
Cuesta  with  nearly  10,000  men,  by  the  same  route  which 
we  before  followed  from  Ciudad  Eeal.  At  the  same  time 
that  I  received  your  letter,  Mr.  Ovalle  communicated  to 
the  Duke  the  same  information  ;  and  yet,  previous  to 
that  date.  General  Yenegas  had  taken  the  command 
of  the  army,  and  the  division  had  already  begun  its 
march,  with  orders  to  the  commanding  officer,  Major- 
General  Count  of  Orgaz,  to  report  daily  to  the  Minister 
of  War. 

'  I  have,  &c. 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

Most  unfortunately,  all  Mr.  Hookham  Frere's  letters  to 
Colonel  Whittingham  are  lost.  The  above  letter  proves 
how  necessary  British  agents  were,  from  whom  alone  the 
English  envoy  could  obtain  reliable  information  and 
active  assistance. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Colonel  Whittingham  had  the 
highest  esteem  for  the  Duke,  as  well  as  affection.*  He 
had  also  had  cause  for  gratitude,  as  will  be  seen  in  the 
following  letter  to  his  brother-in-law  : — 

'  Seville,  17th  April,  1809. 
'  I  enclose  you  two  letters  from  the  Duke  of  Albur- 
querque,  the  one  addressed  to  his  Eoyal  Highness  the 
Duke  of  York,  and  the  other  to  Lord  Castlereagh.     I  am 

*  These  feelings  were  shared  by  Mr.  Hookham  Frere,  and,  subsequently, 
by  Marquis  Wellesley. 


ALBURQUERQUE'S   LAUDATORY   LETTERS.  67 

proud  to  receive  these  recommendations  from  the  Duke, 
because  as  a  soldier  he  stands  unrivalled  in  this  country.' 
[After  detailing  the  ill-treatment  that  the  Duke  received 
from  General  Urbina  and  the  Junta  Suprema,  he  pro- 
ceeds :]  '  The  Duke  was  further  ordered  to  put  himself 
at  the  head  of  a  division  of  troops  destined  to  march  from 
the  Carolina  to  the  assistance  of  General  Cuesta  as  soon 
as  General  Venegas  should  have  taken  the  command  of 
the  army  of  Sierra  Morena. 

'  Before  the  Duke  joined  the  army,  General  Venegas 
had  taken  the  command,  and  we  are  now  on  our  route 
to  join  General  Cuesta  at  Santa  Olalla  and  Monasterio. 
The  division  commanded  by  the  Duke  is  composed  of 
2,500  cavalry  and  7,000  infantry. 

'  General  Cuesta's  army,  after  our  junction,  will  exceed 
25,000  infantry  and  6,000  cavalry.  The  force  left  in 
Sierra  Morena  under  the  command  of  General  Venegas  is 
16,000  infantry  and  2,000  cavalry.  In  regard  to  the  late' 
shameful  flight  of  the  army  of  Sierra  Morena  from  their 
cantonments  at  La  Mancha,  it  is  altogether  too  bad  for 
description.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  folly,  or  more  probably 
treason,  sacrificed  an  army  of  upwards  of  30,000  men, 
including  4,500  cavalry.  The  battle  of  Medellin,  in  Es- 
tremadura,  was  fought  with  bravery  by  all  the  troops 
excepting  the  cavalry  on  the  left  of  the  line.  Their  want 
of  firmness  lost  the  day.  The  right,  where  I  had  the 
honour  of  being  with  the  Duke,  behaved  extremely  well ; 
and  as  our  orders  were  positive  not  to  retreat,  the  whole 
division  of  the  Duke  was  sacrificed.  When  everything 
was  completely  lost,  we  opened  a  passage  through  the 
enemy,  sword  in  hand.' 

The  following  are  translations  of  the  two  letters  wliich 
were  enclosed  in  the  above  : — 


F   2 


QS  MEMOIR   OF  SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

lyie  Duke  of  Alburquerque  to  the  Duke  of  York, 

'  Cordova,  Qth  April,  1809. 

'  Sir, — The  special  merit  which  Colonel  Santiago 
Whittingham*  has  displayed  during  the  whole  of  the 
present  war  in  Spain — and  particularly  the  great  degree 
in  which  he  has  distinguished  himself  in  all  the  actions 
in  which  he  has  served  under  my  command — affords  me 
the  opportunity  of  having  the  honour  to  make  this  known 
to  your  Eoyal  Highness,  for  the  satisfaction  of  this  deserv- 
ing officer.  And  for  the  same  reason,  I  take  the  liberty 
of  entreating  your  Eoyal  Highness  to  make  the  same 
known  to  His  Majesty. 

'  I  take  this  occasion  to  present  my  highest  respects  to 
your  Eoyal  Highness,  and  I  pray  the  Almighty  to  preserve 
your  valuable  life  through  many  extended  years. 
'  At  the  feet  of  your  Eoyal  Highness, 

'  The  Duke  of  Alburquerque.' 

The  Duke  of  Alburquerque  to  Viscount  Castlereagh. 

'  Cordova,  &h  April,  1809. 

'  Excellency, — I  cannot  do  less  than  bring  to  the  notice 
of  your  Excellency  the  distinguished  services  which  Colonel 
Santiago  Whittingham  has  rendered  in  the  present  war  in 
Spain,  and  especially  during  the  time  he  has  been  under 
my  command,  under  which  he  still  continues,  with  the 
most  effective  desire  to  distinguish  himself  daily  more  and 
more. 

'  I  hope  your  Excellency  will  excuse  the  liberty  I  am 
taking  in  order  that  this  highly  deserving  officer  may 
obtain  the  satisfaction  he  so  justly  desires  of  being  made 
known  to  your  Excellency. 

*  Apparently,  tlioiigli  the  rank  was  dated  back  to  2nd  March,  1809, 
either  the  Government  had  not  yet  gazetted  Whittingham  as  Brigadier  or 
the  Duke  had  not  known  it  so  early  as  the  6th  April. 


CONTEADICTOKY   ORDEKS.  69 

'  This  occasion  affords  me  the  especial  gratification  of 
presenting  my  respects  to  your  Excellency. 
'  May  God  preserve  your  Excellency. 

'  His  Excellency  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque.' 

Brigadier- General  Whittingham  to  the  Right  Hon. 
J.  H.  Frere. 

(Extract.) 

'  Olalla,  23rJ  April,  1809.* 

'  I  enclose  a  copy  of  the  Duke's  letter  of  this  morning 
to  the  Count  of  Orgaz,  who  commands  the  infantry  of  the 
division  of  Andalusia.  You  will  observe  by  his  answer 
that  he  does  not  consider  himself  under  the  orders  of  the 
Duke,  and  therefore  declines  sending  him  the  returns  he 
required.  In  consequence,  the  Duke  has  determined  to 
proceed  to  Monasterio,  where  he  will  see  General  Cuesfa 
to-morrow  morning. 

'  These  contradictory  orders  appear  too  nearly  to  re- 
semble those  of  our  last  expedition  to  the  Carolina.     The 
country  we  have  passed  over  to-day  is  not  the  least  fit  for 
the  operations  of  cavalry.    From  Guillena  to  Santa  Olalla 
the  road  is  one  continued  defile  ;  and  cavalry,  instead  of 
being  of  use,  would  only  serve,  by  a  precipitate  flight,  to 
weaken  the  effects  of  the  infantry.     The  total  of  General 
Cuesta's  cavalry  is  very  nearly  7,000.     It  appears  that 
the  French  have  attacked  his  advanced  guard  at  Santos 
with  a  division  of  6,000  men.    Probably,  this  will  prove  a 
reconnoissance  in  force — an  operation  which  they  seldom 
omit  previous  to  a  general  action.     General  Cuesta  will, 
of  course,  defend  the  position  of  Monasterio  as  long  as 
possible,  fall  back  upon  Santa  Olalla,  and  finally  occupy 
and  defend  to  the  last  extremity  the  strong  pass  of  the 
Herzadura,  near  to  the  Venta  de  la  Cruz  del  Chapaxo, 
two  leagues  on  the  Seville  side  of  Eonquillo 

*  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  arrived  at  Lisbon,  on  his  return  from  England,  on 
the  22nd  April,  1809. 


70  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

'  If  4,000  cavalry  were  sent  immediately  to  the  Caro- 
lina, and  the  command  of  that  army  given  to  the  Duke, 
he  would  either  enter  into  Madrid  or  force  Victor  to 
detach  a  considerable  part  of  his  army  towards  Toledo. 
This,  in  my  humble  opinion,  is  the  only  thing  to  be  done 
in  the  present  situation  of  affairs ;  and  should  General 
Cuesta  offer  to  the  Duke  the  command  of  the  advanced 
guard,  he  would,  I  should  think,  do  well  to  accept  it. 
For  upon  the  least  further  advance  of  the  French,  the 
cavalry  at  Santos  must  fall  back  to  the  rear  of  the  Monas- 
terio,  and  continue  retreating  to  Seville  ;  and  thus  the 
Duke,  without  the  hope  of  victory,  would  only  have  ac- 
quired the  fame  of  being  a  second  time  beaten. 

'  The  present  moment  is  so  extremely  critical  that  I 
feel  it  my  duty  to  state  it  to  you  as  my  opinion  that  the 
salvation  of  the  country  will  depend  upon  the  success  of 
your  endeavours  to  change  the  theatre  of  war  once  more 
to  La  Mancha. 

'  Should  this,  however,  not  be  approved  of  by  the 
Spanish  Government,  they  should,  at  all  events,  order  a 
camp  to  be  formed  of  5,500  cavalry  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Seville,  which  would  be  a  rallying  point  for  the 
infantry  should  the  passes  be  forced,  and  might,  possibly, 
if  well  directed,  restore  the  fortune  of  the  day.  I  am 
sure  you  will  agree  with  me  that  the  command  of  the 
force  should  be  given  to  the  Duke.' 

From  the  Same  to  the  Same. 

'  Santa  Olalla,  2Uh  April,  1809. 

'  Sir, — We  have  been  to  day  to  Monasterio.  General 
Cuesta  has  finally  determined  that  the  Duke  shall  com- 
mand only  the  cavalry  of  his  former  division,  which  he 
is  to  canton  in  the  rear  of  the  position  of  Herzadura. 
To-morrow  the  Duke  will  reconnoitre  the  ground,  and 
determine  upon  the  distribution  of  the  force  entrusted  to 
his  command.    Major-General  Echivari,  with  the  advanced 


A   PROPHECY.  71 

guard  of  this  army,  is  at  Fuente  de  Cantos,  five  leagues 
in  advance  beyond  Monasterio.  The  outposts  are  daily 
engaged  with  the  French,  ^wo  leagues  in  rear  of  this 
corps  is  situated  Major-General  Enesterosa  with  8,000 
cavalry ;  and  he  is  supported  by  a  strong  detachment,  at 
the  distance  of  about  a  league,  under  the  orders  of  Briga- 
dier Zayas,  General  Cuesta's  head-quarters  are  at  Monas- 
terio. I  am  convinced  more  and  more  by  every  day's 
experience  that  Geyieral  Cuesta  is  not  the  man  to  command 
an  army  upon  which  the  fate  of  Spain  may  depend.  His 
age,  his  infirmities,  his  excessive  reserve,  and  his  constant 
ill  success,  conspire  to  render  him  unfit  for  his  situation ; 
and  the  Junta  Suprema  will  learn,  when  too  late,  that  good 
inte7itions  alone  are  a  poor  substitute  for  military  talents* 
Would  to  God  it  were  possible  to  give  General  Blake  the 
command  of  this  army,  and  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque 
that  of  the  army  of  the  Carolina !  I  am  convinced  that 
everything  would  go  rightly,  and,  by  a  proper  co-opera- 
tion with  the  army  of  Portugal,  affairs  might  soon  be 
completely  re-established. 

'  '  Will  you  have  the  goodness  to  send  the  Duke,  if  you 
can  procure  it  for  him,  a  map  of  the  kingdom  of  Seville  ? 
I  will  thank  you  to  direct  your  letters  to  me  at  Gerona, 
where  the  Duke's  head-quarters  will  be  established  till 
further  orders.  He  is  very  much  hurt  at  what  has  passed, 
and  has  written  to  Mr.  Ovalle  upon  the  subject. 

'  I  shall  have  the  pleasure  of  writing  to  you  as  soon  as 
we  have  finished  the  reconnoissance  of  the  cantonment ; 
and  I  have  the  honour  to  be.  Sir, 

'  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

'  Samford  Whittingham. 

'  The  Eight  Hon.  J.  H.  Frere.' 

*  Perhaps  the  retreat  of  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley,  in  August,  from  Talavera 
would  never  have  been  necessary  had  the  advice  of  Colonel  Whittingham 
in  April  been  acted  on,  and  the  stupid  and  incompetent  Cuesta  been  ex- 
changed for  a  more  rational  and  practical  commander.  The  Editor  has 
placed  in  italics  a  prophecy  destined  to  such  speedy  fulfilment. 


72  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

To  his  Brother-in-Law. 

►  '  Gerona,  2bth  April,  1809. 

'  You  will  see  by  the  enclosed  letters  to  Mr.  Frere  the 
position  and  strength  of  our  armies.  The  head-quarters 
of  General  Victor  are  at  Merida ;  his  force  about  40,000 
men.  General  Sebastiani  commands  in  La  Mancha  a  divi- 
sion of  10,000  men.  Of  the  division  of  Soult  at  Oporto 
and  of  that  of  Ney,  in  Galicia,  I  conclude  that  you  are 
well  informed. 

'  Our  cause  is  sacred  ;  and  in  spite  of  the  errors  into 
which  we  have  fallen,  we  shall,  I  trust  in  God,  with  the 
cordial  assistance  of  England,  ultimately  prevail.  I  am 
well  aware  that  the  conduct  of  the  Government  has  been 
in  many  instances  weak  and  ridiculous  ;  but  I  love  to  hope 
that  His  Majesty's  Ministers  will  forget  and  forgive,  and 
only  look  to  the  great  good  that  may  ultimately  result 
from  the  success  of  our  endeavours. 

'  I  did  not  lose  my  horses  and  baggage  at  Tudela.  They 
afterwards  appeared.  But  I  lost  at  Madrid  clothes,  bag- 
gage, and  a  travelling  carriage;  the  total  cost  of  which 
exceeded  £350.  What  most  has  grieved  me  is  the  loss  of 
all  my  books  and  papers.  The  value  of  what  I  lost  at 
Coruna  you  are  exactly  acquainted  with.*  I  think,  in  the 
present  state  of  affairs,  you  had  better  not  send  out  the 
carriage  for  the  Marquis  of  Benamigi.'  f 

On  the  28th  April,  Colonel  Whittingham  forwarded  to 
Colonel  Gordon,  Mihtary  Secretary  at  the  Horse-Guards, 
a  copy  of  the  following  letter  which  he  had  addressed  to 
the  British  envoy,  the  day  before  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley 

*  His  baggage  appears  to  have  been  lost  in  Sir  John  Moore's  retreat 
having  been  sent  to  Coruna  from  England. 

t  This  was,  no  doubt,  some  intended  present  from  the  too  generous 
Englishman  to  some  Spanish  gentleman  who  had  formerly  shown  him 
hospitality. 


GENERAL   CUESTA'S   EARLIEST   BRITISH   CRITIC.  73 

arrived  at  Villa  Franca,  and  wrote  the  first  batch  of  his 
dispatches  in  Spain  : — 

To  the  Right  Hon.  J.  E.  Frere. 

(Extract.) 

Geeona,  27th  April,  1809. 

'  I  had  the  honour  to  accompany  the  Duke  of  Albur- 
querque  in  his  reconnoissance  between  this  place  and 
Santi  Penni,  and  returned  to  Gerona  this  day  by  the  way 
of  Guillena.  In  Santi  Penni  the  Duke  has  left  three  officers 
of  Engineers  to  make  a  plan  of  the  adjacent  ground.'  [He 
then  enters  into  long  local  details,  geographical  and  strate- 
gical, with  his  wonted  accuracy  and  clearness,  and  con- 
tinues :]  '  The  more  I  become  acquainted  with  the  Army 
of  Liberation,  and  the  major  part  of  its  generals,  the  more 
I  am  convinced  that  it  is  not  in  a  state  to  cope  with  a 
French  army,  unless  infinitely  favoured  by  the  strength  of 
the  position  which  it  may  occupy.  General  Cuesta  would 
already  have  attacked  the  French  again  but  for  the  in- 
structions of  the  Supreme  Junta.  Upon  so  brave  and 
respectable  a  character  as  that  of  the  old  General,  I 
should  not  wish  to  be  severe.  But  the  times  are  too 
critical  to  admit  of  attentions  of  any  kind  which  may  lead 
to  the  smallest  deviations  from  truth.  The  General  is  so 
extremely  infirm  that  he  is  not  in  a  state  to  fulfil  the 
active  duties  of  his  profession,  and  at  the  same  time  so 
jealous  of  his  authority,  or  so  little  accustomed  to  the  treat- 
ment of  organized  armies,  that  he  has  no  idea  of  dele- 
gating that  proportion  of  his  command  to  others  without 
which  the  necessary  and  proper  subdivision  of  labour 
cannot  take  place. 

'  In  all  the  engagements  which  he  has  had  with  the 
French,  his  mode  of  attack  has  been  below  criticism  ;  and 
the  consequences  have  been  such  as  might  be  expected. 
At  General  Cuesta's  time  of  life,  men  are  little  disposed  to 
change ;  and  experience,  however  dearly  bought,  is  not 


74  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

sufficient  to  correct  errors,  whicli  by  long  habit  have  be- 
come second  nature.  Eest  assured,  sir,  that,  if  General 
Cuesta  is  to  direct  the  operations  of  this  army,  it  is  of  the 
first  importance  to  obhge  him  to  remain  upon  the  defen- 
sive ;  not  only  because  he  is  at  a  distance  of  only  a  few 
leagues  from  the  capital,  and,  consequently,  the  elSects  of 
a  defeat  may  be  fatal ;  but  that  it  is  almost  impossible  that 
he  should  ever  be  successful  against  the  French,  fighting 
his  battles  in  the  way  that  he  has  hitherto  done.  This  being 
the  case,  the  proposed  expedition  to  La  Mancha  becomes 
doubly  necessary.  For,  at  the  same  time  that  the  greatest 
good  would  of  necessity  result  from  the  appearance  of  the 
Duke  of  Alburquerque  at  the  head  of  a  strong  division  in 
a  province  where  his  name  is  idolized,  and  where  public 
opinion  has  so  great  an  effect  upon  the  people  of  Madrid, 
we  should  obtain,  also,  the  much-to-be-desired  advantage 
of  obhging  the  Army  of  Liberation  to  remain  on  the  de- 
fensive, at  least  till  the  co-operation  of  an  English  army 
should  afford  hopes  of  success.* 

'  I  have,  &c. 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

In  another  letter  to  Mr.  Frere,  dated  Gerona,  1st  May, 
Colonel  Whittingham  enforced  the  same  views,  adding 
more  details  on  the  state  and  positions  of  the  Spanish 
armies. 

The  hero  of  the  age  had  now  arrived  in  Spain,  and  in 
a  letter  dated  Villa  Franca,  29th  April,  1809,  acknow- 
ledged to  Mr.  Frere  the  receipt  of  a  letter  from  him,  and 
of  another  from  General  Cuesta.  Sir  Arthur  stated  his  in- 
tention of  communicating  with  the  Spanish  Government 
only  through  Mr.  Frere,  and  one  sentence  of  his  letter  may 

*  In  spite  of  the  lost  replies  of  Mr.  Frere,  there  can  be  no  question  that 
the  latter  agreed,  and  sympathized,  with  his  correspondent.  It  is  a  pity, 
however,  that  he  did  not  send  these  letters  to  Sir  Arthur,  to  acquaint  him 
with  what  the  latter  learnt  only  after  painful  experience — the  utter  inca- 
pacity of  Cuesta. 


SIR  A.  WELLESLEY'S   RETURN   TO   THE    PENINSULA.       75 

be  appropriately  quoted  here,  as  confirming  the  wisdom  of 
the  advice  given  to  Mr.  Frere  by  the  EngHsh  captain  who 
was  serving  so  zealously  in  the  arduous  and  hazardous 
post  of  a  British  agent,  and  at  the  same  time  of  a  Spanish 
colonel,  in  an  ill-disciplined,  disorganized,  and  badly  com- 
manded army. 

'  I  hope,'  writes  Sir  Arthur,  '  that  the  Spaniards  will  ad- 
here to  their  determination  of  acting  on  the  defensive  till 
I  shall  return  to  the  eastward.'* 

In  a  letter  of  the  same  date  to  Don  Martin  Garay,  Sir 
Arthur  writes  : — '  In  the  meantime,  I  cannot  sufficiently 
recommend  a  strict  defensive  position  in  all  quarters.' 

If  this  advice  had  been  strictly  carried  out,  and  General 
Cuesta  at  once  removed  from  the  command,  much  trouble 
would  have  been  saved  to  the  English  commander.  For 
although  many  of  the  Spanish  generals  were  as  incompe- 
tent as  Cuesta,  few  were  so  impracticably  stupid  and  ob- 
stinate as  that  old  soldier,  who,  excepting  courage,  does 
not  appear  to  have  had  a  redeeming  quality  of  any  kind. 
To  the  subject  of  this  Memoir  he  was  destined  to  be  a 
constant  source  of  annoyance  and  disgust  up  to  the 
very  hour  of  his  death,  as  Captain-General  of  the  Bale- 
aric Islands. 

The  return  of  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  to  the  Peninsula, 
who  was  soon  to  take  into  his  powerful  hands  the  uni- 
versal management  of  afiairs,  naturally  lessened  in  some 
degree  the  personal  influence  of  the  military  agent  who 
was  but  a  captain  in  the  British  army.  He  continued, 
however,  to  enjoy  the  full  confidence  of  the  Minister.  To 
gain  that  of  Sir  Arthur  was  a  work  of  time,  especially  as 
he  had  at  first  no  direct  communication  with  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief, but  was  considered  under  the  orders  of 
Mr.  Hookham  Frere  in  his  capacity  of  agent.  It  may, 
however,  be  here  remarked  that,  if  the  subject  of  this 
Memoir  had  not  eventually  obtained  the  complete  confi- 

*    JVellingtofi  Dispatches^  vol.  iv.  p.  281. 


76  MEMOIR   OF   SIE   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

dence  of  his  illustrious  chief,  these  pages  would  never  have 
been  written  ;  for,  though  the  great  Welhngton  was  after 
all  a  mortal,  and  as  such  liable  to  error,  still  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  his  opinion  of  those  who  served  under 
him  must  be  considered  as  final  both  for  the  present  age 
and  for  posterity. 

The  jealousy  of  Cuesta  against  the  Duke  of  Albur- 
querque  vented  itself  in  giving  that  gallant  nobleman  so 
reduced  a  command  that  '  nothing  could  induce  him  [the 
Duke]  to  remain  but  the  expectation  that  a  general  en- 
gagement would  take  place  as  soon  as  Sir  Arthur  shall 
return  from  the  attack  of  Soult.'  * 

Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  to  the  Right  Hon,  J.  H,  Frere.f 

'  Opokto,  22w(Z  May,  1809. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — My  letter  of  the  20th  will  apprize  you 
of  all  that  has  occiu-red  in  this  quarter  since  I  wrote  to 
you  on  the  9th  instant.  I  have  returned  here  with  the 
advance  of  the  army,  having  done  all  I  could,  or  had  to 
do,  northward,  and  having  thought  it  necessary  to  move 
to  the  southward,  in  consequence  of  the  invasion  of  Por- 
tugal by  the  attack  and  capture  of  Alcantara 

'  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  letters  of  the  15th 
and  17th.  I  acknowledge  that  I  do  not  consider  Lord 
Wellesley 's  appointment  a  subject  of  congratulation  to 
himself  or  his  friends.  I  suspect  that  the  task  which  will 
devolve  upon  him  will  be  a  most  arduous  one ;  and  that 
some  time  will  elapse  before  he  will  be  sufficiently  au 
courant  des  affaires  to  be  able  to  form  a  judgment  of  its 
extent.  I  am  truly  concerned,  however,  that  your  re- 
moval should  not  be  so  consonant  to  your  wishes. 

'  Believe  me,  &c. 

'  Arthur  Wellesley.' 

*  Letter  from  Brigadier-General  Whittingham  to  Colonel  Gordon,  (Mili- 
tary Secretary  at  the  Horse-Guards),  dated  Zafra,  20th  May,  1800. 
t    Wellington  Dispatches,  vol.  iv.  p.  353. 


LETTER   TO   THE    DUKE    OF    KENT.  77 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  new  appointment 
did  not,  and  could  not,  suit  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley.  The 
Marquis,  his  elder  brother  (and  former  patron,  and  official 
superior  as  Governor-General),  was  coming  out  as  Am- 
bassador Extraordinary  to  relieve  the  Minister,  Mr.  Frere. 
With  such  powers,  and  considering  his  past  career,  Lord 
Wellesley  could  not  be  expected  to  play  any  but  the  first 
part ;  and  Sir  Arthur  would  naturally  hold  a  position  re- 
latively inferior  to  that  which  he  possessed  while  Mr. 
Frere  was  Minister. 

The  advent  of  Marquis  Wellesley  in  Spain,  if  no  matter 
of  rejoicing  to  his  famous  brother,  brought  with  it  one  of 
the  pleasantest  episodes  of  Samford  Whittingham's  adven- 
turous hfe,  though  his  Lordship's  sojourn  in  Spain  was  as 
brief  as  it  was  brilliant. 

The  following  is  the  only  copy  in  the  Editor's  hands  of 
the  several  letters  which  its  writer  undoubtedly  addressed 
to  the  illustrious  father  of  Her  Majesty  the  Queen  :— 

To  His  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  Kent, ^ 

'  Head-Qxjakters  of  ihe  Second  Division  of  Cavalry, 

'  commanded  by  the  Dtjke  of  Alburquerqtje, 

'  Zafra,  23r^  May,  1809. 

'  Sir, — Since  the  battle  of  Medelhn,  which  cost  us  the 
amount  of  22,000  men,  great  changes  have  taken  place. 
The  efforts  of  this  nation  are  in  exact  proportion  to  the 
difficulties  which  it  has  to  labour  under.  Defeated  at 
Medellin,  put  to  a  shameful  flight  in  La  Mancha,  the 
French  advanced  to  within  fifteen  leagues  of  Seville ;  the 
whole  force  which  we  at  that  time  could  collect  in  the 
passes  of  the  Monasterio,  and  St.  Olalla  did  not  exceed 
8,000  men.     General  Victor,  who  commands  the  French 

*  Only  a  very  rough  copy,  difficult  to  read,  and  not  apparently  in  the 
handwriting  of  Brigadier-General  W^hittingham,  exists  of  this  letter.  The 
writer  was,  for  the  sake  of  the  unhappy  country  he  was  so  zealously  serving, 
evidently  trying  to  palliate  the  national  errors. 


78  MEMOIR    OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

army  in  Estremadura,  lost  the  favourable  moment  for 
attack,  and  the  energies  of  the  nation  were  called  forth. 
The  present  force  and  distribution  of  the  Spanish  and 
French  armies  are  as  follows  : — 

'  General  Cuesta,  24,000  infantry,  7,000  cavalry,  and 
fifty  pieces  of  cannon.  His  advanced  guard  at  Merida, 
sustained  by  a  body  of  2,000  cavalry  at  Almendraligo ; 
head-quarters  at  Fuente  del  Merthyr.  His  reserve  at  this 
place.* 

'  Opposed  to  General  Cuesta  is  General  Victor.  His 
army  is  about  30,000  strong.  He  occupies  Truxillo  and 
Caceres,  and  has  his  advanced  guard  at  Mortanchis.  A 
small  detachment  of  300  or  400  men  still  occupy  the  old 
castle  of  Merida,  but  they  are  hourly  expected  to  surrender. 

'  General  Venegas  commands  the  army  of  La  Carolina, 
but  subject  to  the  orders  which  he  may  receive  from 
General  Cuesta.  His  force  is  20,000  infantry  and  3,500 
cavalry,  and  a  large  and  well  organized  force  of  horse 
artillery. 

'General  Blake  is  appointed  Commander-in-Chief  of 
Aragon,  Catalonia,  Valencia,  and  Murcia.  /  understand 
that  he  has  advanced  from  Anton  towards  Cuen^a  with 
24,000  infantry  and  1,000  cavalry. 

'  General  Sebastiani,  who  commands  in  La  Mancha, 
against  General  Venegas,  has  with  him  a  body  of  9,000 
men. 

'  General  Mortier  marched  a  short  time  since  from 
Saragossa  to  Burgos  with  a  division  of  11,000  men  ;  and 
it  is  said  that  General  Augereau  has  passed  Irun  from 
Bayonne  with  a  body  of  15,000  conscripts. 

'  General  Ney  with  a  small  force  occupies  Ferrol  and 
Coruna,  but  as  the  whole  of  Galicia  is  again  in  arms 
under  the  Marquis  de  la  Eomana,  he  may  be  considered 
as  blockaded. 

*  Zafra^  from  wliich  the  letter  is  dated. 


LETTER  TO  THE  DUKE  OF  KENT.         79 

'  General  Soult  has  been  completely  defeated  at  Oporto 
by  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley ;  but  of  this,  I  conclude,  your 
Eoyal  Highness  is  already  informed. 

'  I  have  not  sufficient  details  to  be  able  to  state  accu- 
rately what  is  passing  in  Catalonia ;  but  there  is  no  doubt 
that  affairs  have  there  taken  a  very  favourable  turn. 

'  The  result  of  this  extension  of  the  forces,  and  distri- 
bution of  the  Spanish  and  French  armies,  is  that,  should 
Victor  fall  back  upon  Madrid,  and  join  Sebastiani,  and 
should  the  divisions  of  Mortier  and  Augereau  advance 
upon  the  capital,  they  will  concentrate  a  force  of  70,000 
men.  Cuesta,  by  effecting  a  junction  with  Venegas  and 
Blake  (which  it  is  always  in  his  power  to  do  by  a  flank 
movement  to  his  right,  or  by  their  making  a  flank  move- 
ment to  their  left),  will  collect  an  army  of  58,000  infantry 
and  11,500  cavalry. 

'  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  has  promised  to  advance  into 
Spain,  following  the  right  bank  of  the  Tagus,  and  to  co- 
operate with  General  Cuesta  the  moment  that  he  returns 
from  his  expedition  to  Oporto;  and  he  has  requested 
General  Cuesta  not  to  compromise  himself  in  any  general 
action  till  his  arrival.  Sir  Arthur's  force  between  Coy 
and  Portugal  is  estimated  at  50,000  men.  It  is  not  for 
me  to  presume  to  give  your  Eoyal  Highness  an  opinion 
on  the  issue  of  the  present  contest.  But,  at  all  events, 
whatever  may  be  the  issue,  your  Eoyal  Highness  may  rest 
assured  that  as  long  as  we  can  collect  a  dozen  muskets  we 
shall  fight,  and  by  dint  of  fighting,  I  trust  in  God,  we  shall 
become  good  soldiers. 

'  I  have,  &c. 

^Samford  Whittinqham. 

'  P.S. — I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  your  Eoyal  High- 
ness that  the  Junta  Suprema  has  made  me  a  Brigadier- 
General  of  Spanish  Cavalry. 

'  S.  W.' 


80  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTIXGHAM. 

Biig a dier- General  Whittingham  to  the  Right  Bon. 
J.  H.  Frere. 

(Extract.) 

'  Zafra,  2Qth  May,  1809. 

'  The  truth  of  what  you  have  so  often  stated  relative  to 
the  necessity  of  a  diversion  in  La  Mancha  is  now  most 
strongly  felt  at  head-quarters.*  General  Venegas  has 
received  repeated  orders  to  advance  and  attack  General 
Sebastiani,  who  has  with  him  not  above  12,000  men.  But 
General  Venegas  pleads  the  want  of  spirit  in  his  soldiers, 
and  their  reduced  numbers.  Under  such  an  impression, 
it  may  perhaps  be  better  for  the  country  that  he  should 
do  nothing.  But  it  is  sadly  to  be  lamented  that,  at  a 
moment  when  such  important  consequences  might,  and 
indeed  must,  arise  from  calling  the  attention  of  the  enemy 
towards  the  right,  the  plan  of  the  campaign  should  be 
exposed  to  ruin  rather  than  employ,  in  the  command 
of  the  army  of  the  Carolina,  the  only  man  who  possesses 
the  full  confidence  of  that  army,  and  to  whom  the  peasants 
of  La  Mancha  look  up  with  the  most  enthusiastic  admi- 
ration.'f 

The  English  Envoy  and  the  military  Agent  were  evi- 
dently working  harmoniously  together,  though  we  can 
produce  only  one  side  of  the  correspondence  carried  on 
between  them.   He  now  meets  again  with  an  old  friend  :  — 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  Zafra,  ^th  June,  1809. 
'  I  am  just  returned  from  the  vanguard,  where  we  had 
a  pretty  little  action,  and  carried  off  from  the  enemy  700 

*  Those  readers  who  have  observed  how  earnestly  the  Brigadier  had 
suggested  to  the  Minister  this  diversion  in  La  Mancha  will  be  struck  with 
this  passage.  Anxious  to  have  what  is  right  properly  done,  he  is  indifferent 
about  the  credit  of  the  original  suggestion. 

t  He  alludes  to  Alburquerque. 


LETTEKS   TO   HIS   BROTHER-IN-LAW.  81 

fanegas  of  corn.  Lieutenant-Colonel  Bourke  and  Cadogan 
are  arrived  at  head-quarters  from  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley, 
at  Alcantara.  His  whole  force  may  be  up  in  a  few  days. 
He  has  with  him  a  force  of  40,000  men,  out  of  which 
24,000  are  English.  General  Cuesta  has  not  less  than 
35,000  men.  These  armies  co-operating  must  utterly 
destroy  Victor  if  he  awaits  the  attack.  But  if,  as  it  is 
feared,  he  retreats  from  his  present  position  in  time,  it 
will  be  absolutely  necessary  to  pursue  and  harass  him  in 
his  retreat  with  the  whole  body  of  the  united  arms.' 

To  the  Same. 

^  ViLLANEUVA  DE  LA  SiKENA,  Ihth  June,  1809. 

'  The  French  abandoned  Merida  on  the  13th.  To-day 
they  have  retired  from  Miajadas  ;  and  it  is  evident  that 
they  are  in  full  retreat  by  the  bridge  of  Almaraz.  Their 
position  on  the  other  side  of  the  Tagus  will  probably  be 
at  Talavera  de  la  Eeyna. 

'  I  cannot  help  expressing  my  opinion  that,  if  General 
Cuesta  crosses  the  Tagus,  and  follows  the  traces  of  Victor, 
we  shall  be  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  fighting  a  battle 
in  order  to  obtain  his  further  retreat ;  and,  in  the  com- 
parative state  of  the  French  and  Spanish  armies,  the 
result  of  a  general  action  is  always  to  be  feared  ;  whereas 
by  the  plan  which  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  propose, 
the  desired  effect  would  be  produced  by  a  war  of  move- 
ment without  the  smallest  risk. 

'  I  have  taken  advantage  of  Colonel  Cadogan's*  depar- 
ture for  the  British  army  to  send  you  these  few  lines.' 

To  the  Same. 

^  ViLLAR  DE  EoBLEDO,  2^th  June,  1809. 

'  You  will  see  by  the  date  of  my  last  letter  that  we  are 
within  a  league  of  the  Tagus.    We  marched  all  last  night 

*  Lieutenant- Colonel  Cadogan  was  aide-de-camp  to  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley. 

G 


82  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

in  order  to  attack  tlie  bridge  of  Arzobispo  this  morning. 
It  has  been  delayed  in  consequence  of  the  artillery  not 
arriving  in  time.  We  shall  probably  cross  the  Tagus 
to-morrow.  Sir  Arthur  is  marching  from  Abrantes  to 
Castel  Branco,  Eosminhal,  Sigura,  Zarza,  Coria,  Placencia 
— distance  thirty-seven  leagues. 

'  You  will  be  much  grieved  to  hear  that  the  Duke  of 
Alburquerque  has  left  this  army.  He  has  been  disgusted 
by  the  repeated  ill-treatment  which  he  has  received ;  but 
I  hope,  when  Lord  Wellesley  arrives,  that  everything  will 
be  set  to  rights.  I  remain  with  the  vanguard,  or  rather 
with  the  cavalry  of  the  vanguard,  commanded  by  the 
Prince  of  Anglona.  I  think  that  we  may  probably  enter 
Madrid  in  ten  days. 

'  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  has  appointed  me  to  the  Staff  of 
his  army  as  Deputy  Assistant  Quartermaster-General.  This 
will  give  me  eight  shillings  a  day,  and  will  not  interfere 
with  my  plans  here.' 

The  Marquis  Wellesley  to  R.  H.  Uavis,  Esq.  M.P. 

'  Apsley  House,  19^A  June,  1809. 

'  Lord  Wellesley  presents  his  compliments  to  Mr.  Davis, 
and  has  the  honour  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  his 
two  notes  under  date  the  4th  and  17th  June,  together 
with  the  papers  from  Major*  Whittingham,  for  whose 
character  and  talents  Lord  Wellesley  entertains  the 
highest  respect,  Lord  Wellesley  is  extremely  obliged  to 
Mr.  Davis  for  communicating  to  him  these  interesting 
documents,  which  he  begs  leave  to  return  to  Mr.  Davis 
with  many  acknowledgments  for  his  kind  attention  in 
permitting  Lord  Wellesley  to  peruse  them.' 

Thus,  before  ever  seeing  Samford  Whittingham,  Lord 

*  This  arose  from  some  mistake  on  Ms  Lordship's  part ;  Samford  Whit- 
tingham was  still  only  a  Captain  in  the  British  service,  but  a  Brigadier- 
General  in  that  of  Spain. 


DUKE   OF   KENT   TO   ME.    DAVIS.  83 

Wellesley,  by  the  mere  perusal  of  his  letters  and  memo- 
randa, had  already  imbibed  a  very  high  opinion  of  his 
character.  If  anyone  was  ever  more  ready  to  acknow- 
ledge merit,  wherever  it  appeared,  than  this  truly  liberal- 
minded  nobleman,  it  was  the  illustrious  writer  (a  few 
days  earlier)  of  the  note  which  follows  : — 

His  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  Kent  to  R.  H.  Davis, 
Esq.  M.P. 

^  KENsmGTON  Palace,  12th  June,  1809. 

'  The  Duke  of  Kent  returns  his  best  acknowledgments  to 
Mr.  Davis  for  his  polite  note  of  yesterday,  and  the  obhging 
attention  he  has  shown  in  taking  the  trouble  of  calling 
himself  at  Kensington  with  the  letter  from  his  brother- 
in-law.  Brigadier- General  Whittingham,  that  was  sent  to 
his  care.  The  Duke  conceiving  it  probable  that  the 
General  may  have  instructed  Mr.  Davis  through  what 
channel  to  forward  his  letters  to  him,  which  he  has 
omitted  to  do  in  his  communication  to  the  Duke,  he 
hopes  that  Mr.  Davis  will  forgive  him  for  troubling  him 
to  take  charge  of  the  enclosed  for  that  highly  estimable 
officer,  which  he  is  peculiarly  desirous  should  reach  him 
in  safety,  as  he  has  reason  to  believe  other  letters  he  has 
written  to  him  before  have  not  found  their  way  to  him, 
as  in  his  last  he  makes  no  mention  of  having  received 
any  from  the  Duke.' 

It  appears,  indeed,  that  none  of  these  letters — not  even 
the  one  which  the  Duke  sent  to  Mr.  Davis  with  the  above 
■ — ever  reached  their  address.  At  all  events,  they  have  aU 
unfortunately  disappeared,  and  it  is,  therefore,  very  satis- 
factory that  another  to  Mr.  Davis,  in  addition  to  the 
above,  has  reached  the  Editor's  hands,  which  will  appear 
in  its  proper  place. 


g2 


84  MEMOIR   OF  SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 


To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  CoRiA,  Uh  July,  1809. 

'  I  am  just  returned  from  Zarza  la  Maior,  where  I  liave 
been  to  see  Sir  Arthur,  in  consequence  of  his  order.  The 
first  division  of  the  British  army  marches  into  this  town 
to-morrow  morning  ! 

'  General  Cuesta  is  at  Almaraz,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Tagus.  Victor  occupies  a  position  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  Alberche  river  :  his  head -quarters  at  Ciboya.  King 
Joseph  is  at  Toledo.  Sebastiani,  reinforced  by  the  greater 
part  of  the  garrison  of  Madrid,  lias  advanced  against 
Yenegas  in  La  Mancha.  Ferrol  and  Corufia  have  been 
evacuated.  The  Spaniards  have  taken  possession  of  these 
towns  ;  and  the  remains  of  the  divisions  of  Ney,  Soult, 
and  Kellermann  (in  all  20,000  men),  have  evacuated  Ga- 
licia  and  Asturias,  and  are  directing  their  march  towards 
this  part  of  the  country.  It  does  not  appear  an  easy  or 
safe  operation  to  attack  Victor  in  his  present  position. 
Should  the  other  divisions  join  him,  we  shall  have  occa- 
sioned the  reunion  of  the  French  force,  without  having 
increased  that  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  same  proportion ; 
and  the  truth  of  what  I  have  before  stated  of  the  good 
effect  to  be  expected  from  placing  60,000  men  under  Sir 
Arthur  will  be  severely  felt.  Of  course,  everything  I  say 
to  you  upon  these  matters  is  in  perfect  confidence.  If 
any  military  man  can  save  this  country,  I  think  it  will  be 
Sir  Arthur!  His  great  abilities  are  aided  by  the  most 
conciliatory  manners.  He  is  just  the  man  to  please  the 
Spaniards  ;  and,  in  my  humble  opinion,  if  he  has  the 
means,  he  will  constantly  prove  victorious  over  the  French. 
He  is  -going  to  wait  upon  Cuesta  in  a  few  days.'  * 

*  On  the  13tli  July,  Sir  A.  Wellesley  writes  to  Mr.  H.Frere:—' General 
Castanos  having  declined  to  send  a  large  detachment  to  the  quarter  proposed 
by  me,  I,  of  course,  have  no  opportunity  of  requesting  that  the  Duke  of 
Alburquerque  should  have  the  command  to  which  I  certainly  should  have 


THE    BATTLE   OF   TALAVERA.  85 

The  following  account  of  tlie  battle  of  Talavera  is  ex- 
tracted from  the  '  Eecollections  :  ' — 

'  A  short  time  previous  to  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley's  ad- 
vance into  Spain,  I  was  directed  to  join  his  head-quarters 
on  the  frontiers  of  Portugal.  Cuesta's  army  had  been 
literally  destroyed  at  Medellin ;  yet  he  had  collected  again 
a  force  of  35,000  men,  of  which  6,000  were  cavalry,  and 
had  thrown  a  bridge  of  boats  over  the  Tagus  at  Almaraz, 
of  which  he  was  very  proud.  It  was  agreed  by  the  two 
chiefs  that  their  meeting  should  take  place  near  the  bridge ; 
and  Sir  Arthur  advanced  to  the  rendezvous  escorted  by  a 
squadron  of  British  dragoons.  In  consequence  of  this 
conference.  Sir  Arthur  crossed  the  Tietar,  and  the  com- 
bined armies  advanced  upon  Talavera. 

'  A  slight  skiraiish  drove  the  French  from  the  town, 
and  they  took  up  a  commanding  position  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Alberche. 

'  Sir  Arthur  reconnoitred  the  ground  carefully  and 
minutely,  and  proposed  to  Cuesta  that  the  attack  should 
take  place  the  next  morning  at  break  of  day,  in  two 
columns.  The  right  column,  composed  of  Spaniards,  and 
commanded  by  Cuesta,  [was]  to  advance  on  the  high-road 
leading  from  Talavera  to  Madrid  ;  the  left  column,  com- 
posed of  British  troops  under  Sir  Arthur,  [was]  to  march 
direct  upon  the  position  occupied  by  the  French  army, 
pass  the  Alberche,  and  storm  the  heights  on  the  left  bank. 
Cuesta's  movement  by  the  high-road  would  thus  bring 
his  whole  army  perpendicular  to  the  left  flank  of  Victor, 
whilst  the  front  attack  would  be  jnade  by  Sir  Arthur. 

'  All  Sir  Arthur's  orders  were  issued ;  but  no  decisive 
answer  having  been  obtained  from  the  Spanish  General,  I 

been  disposed,  as  well  on  account  of  your  recommendalioa,  as  from  liis  own 
character.'  '  On  the  22nd  July,  the  outposts  of  the  French  army  were  driven 
in  by  the  Spanish  advanced  guard  under  the  command  of  General  Zayas  and 
the  Duke  of  Alburquerque/  writes  Sir  A.  Wellesley  to  Lord  Castlereagh,  on 
the  24th  July,  1809. 


86  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

was  directed  to  wait  upon  him,  and  to  ascertain  what  his 
intentions  were.  My  conference  with  the  old  General 
and  his  Staff  lasted  till  eleven  o'clock  at  night ;  but  I 
could  bring  him  to  no  final  decision,  and  I  was  obliged  to 
return  to  the  British  head-quarters  with  this  unsatisfactory- 
result. 

'  Counter-orders  were  immediately  issued,  to  suspend 
the  projected  attack ;  and  an  opportunity  was  lost  of 
beating  the  French  army  in  detail,  and  of  immortalizing 
the  opening  career  of  the  British  General  by  a  suite  of 
brilliant  and  rapid  successes,  not  surpassed  at  any  period 
of  the  Peninsular  War. 

('  See  my  memorandum  on  the  battle  of  Talavera.'  *) 

'  After  much  hesitation,  Cuesta  was  at  last  brought  to 
consent  to  the  attack  as  first  proposed,  and  a  day  having 
been  wasted  in  talk,  it  was  at  length  determined  that  the 
attack  should  take  place  next  morning.  We  accordingly 
crossed  the  Alberche,  and  ascended  the  heights,  but  it 
was  too  late  :  the  bird  was  flown.  Victor  had  retreated 
upon  Madrid  the  night  before.  In  spite  of  the  remon- 
strances of  Sir  Arthur,  Cuesta  and  all  his  force  set  off*  in 
the  pursuit  of  the  French  army,  whilst  the  British  General 
was  occupied  in  reconnoitring  the  ground  about  Talavera, 
and  in  choosing  the  position  where  he  should  fight  the 
battle  which  he  foresaw  must  in  a  few  days  take  place. 

'  Victor,  having  been  reinforced  by  the  troops  of  Madrid, 
was  now  at  the  head  of  45,000  men,  of  which  6,000  were 
cavalry ;  and  Cuesta  was  forthwith  driven  back  to  the 
entrance  of  Talavera.  It  was  with  the  greatest  difiiculty 
that  Sir  Arthur  obtained  permission  to  speak  to  Cuesta 
(who  at  five  p.m.  was  asleep  in  his  tent  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Alberche),  to  inform  him  of  the  immediate  proxi- 
mity of  the  enemy,  and  to  request  him  to  occupy,  with- 
out a  moment's  loss  of  time,  his  position  in  the  general 

*  TMs  memorandum  is  too  long  for  insertion,  and,  moreover,  is  (the  Editor 
believes)  embodied  in  Southey's  History  of  the  Peninsular  Wd7\ 


NARROW   ESCAPE    OF  SIR   ARTHUR   WELLESLEY.  87 

line.  In  the  meantime  the  whole  of  the  British  cavalry- 
was  thrown  out  to  cover  his  retreat  on  the  Alberche. 
Colonel  Elley,*  and  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  British 
cavalry,  manoeuvred  the  two  lines  in  a  most  masterly 
manner,  and  so  completely  checked  the  rapid  advance  of 
the  enemy  that  it  was  four  p.m.  before  the  last  of  the 
British  squadrons  repassed  the  Alberche. 

'  I  had  galloped  to  Talavera  to  report  the  result  of  the 
cavalry  movements  to  Sir  Arthur,  when  a  Staff  officer 
came  in  from  General  Mackenzie — whose  division  occu- 
pied a  wood  on  our  extreme  left — to  say  that  the  division 
had  been  surprised  ;  that  one  regiment  had  given  way, 
and  that  all  was  confusion  and  dismay !  In  a  moment,  the 
General  was  in  his  saddle,  and  in  full  gallop  towards  the 
spot.  We  advanced  into  the  midst  of  our  skirmishers. 
The  fire  was  hot,  and  the  enemy  rapidly  approaching. 
Sir  Arthur  leaped  off  his  horse,  and  scrambled  up  the 
wall  of  an  old  ruin  close  at  hand.  But  he  was  obliged 
to  throw  himself  down  on  his  hands  and  knees,  and  to 
remount  instantly ;  for  the  enemy's  sharp-shooters  had 
nearly  surrounded  the  building,  and  a  minute's  delay 
would  have  constituted  him  a  prisoner. 

'  A  brigade  of  infantry  was  formed,  at  a  short  distance 
in  our  rear,  on  the  right  of  which  was  the  45th  [Eegiment] 
commanded  by  Colonel  Gordon.  He  was  a  little  fat  man, 
who  had  commanded  the  same  regiment  at  Buenos  Ayres. 
Whilst  the  General  was  speaking  to  him,  a  musket  baU 
went  through  the  blade  of  his  sword,  another  took  off  the 
round  knob  of  his  hilt,  and  a  third  went  through  his  cap ! 
Sir  Arthur  then  ordered  the  battalions  to  retire  from  the 
right  of  companies,  [in  order]  to  pass  the  wood  in  their 
rear.  This  manoeuvre  had  scarcely  been  commenced, 
when  the  heads  of  the  French  columns  showed  themselves, 
and  their  artillery  opened  upon  us. 

*  Afterwards  General  Sir  John  EUev. 


88  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  Our  retreat  to  the  position  of  Talavera  was  covered  by 
the  Spanish  cavalry,  and  conducted  with  much  order.  The 
left  of  the  Spanish  line,  in  the  position,  rested  upon  the 
right  of  the  British.  An  English  battery  of  six-pounders, 
in  the  centre  of  the  line,  was  removed  to  make  room  for  a 
Spanish  battery  of  eight-pounders ;  the  fire  of  the  six- 
pounders  being  found  inadequate.  I  had  no  particular 
command  in  this  action ;  but  finding  no  commander  with 
the  Spanish  division  .on  the  left  of  their  line,  I  assumed  the 
command,  and  found  a  ready  obedience  in  both  officers 
and  men. 

'  About  ten  at  night  the  French  threw  out  parties  of 
light  infantry  to  open  a  light  running  fire  down  the  line  ; 
probably  to  ascertain  its  direction.  But  our  young  Spanish 
soldiers,  taking  the  alarm,  commenced  a  fire  so  heavy  and 
well  kept  up  that  Sir  Arthur,  who  just  at  that  moment 
came  up,  said — "  Whittingham,  if  they  will  but  fire  as  well 
to-morrow,  the  day  is  our  own ;  but  as  there  seems  to  be 
nobody  to  fire  at  just  now,  I  wish  you  would  try  to  stop 
it." — "I  have  been  trying  for  some  time  in  vain,"  I 
replied  :  and  whilst  I  was  speaking  three  battalions  became 
so  frightened  at  their  own  noise,  that  they  fairly  took  to 
their  heels,  and  fled  from  the  field  of  battle.  "  Only  look, 
Whittingham,"  said  the  General,  "  at  the  ugly  hole  those 
fellows  have  left.  I  wish  you  would  go  to  the  second  line, 
and  try  to  fill  it  up." 

'  Nothing  could  give  a  more  correct  idea  of  the  supe- 
riority of  Sir  Arthur's  mind  than  this  httle  incident.  He 
had  advanced  into  the  heart  of  Spain  on  his  own  respon- 
sibility. He  was  now  in  the  presence  of  45,000  French- 
men. His  whole  force  consisted  of  18,000  British,  and 
35,000  Spanish  troops  ;  the  latter  hastily  assembled  since 
the  defeat  at  Medellin ;  and,  consequently,  for  the  most 
part  a  mere  rabble.  Panic-struck  by  their  own  fire,  a 
whole  brigade  had  thrown  down  their  arms  and  fled.  At 
a  moment  so  awful,  when  all  was  at  stake.  Sir  Arthur 


SIR  Arthur's  remarks  to  wiiittingham.         89 

coolly  observed  that  the  hole  in  the  first  line  was  an  ugly 
one,  and  requested  me  to  bring  troops  from  the  second  line 
to  fill  it  up. 

'  During  the  night  a  false  alarm  sent  all  our  servants  and 
baggage  to  the  rear  ;  they  carried  off  our  horses  also,  and 
I  was  glad  to  mount  myself  on  a  stray  dragoon-horse, 
which  chance  threw  in  my  way.  We  had  had  nothing  to 
eat  for  the  last  forty-eight  hours,  and  I  was  truly  glad  to 
fall  in  with  General  Zayas,  who  gave  us  an  excellent  break- 
fast of  "  Bacallao  con  salsa ^  (salt  fish  stewed  in  tomata 
sauce).  About  three  p.m.,  July  28th,  the  French  made  a 
fierce  attack  upon  the  left  of  the  Spaniards ;  but  so  mar- 
vellous is  the  effect  of  British  courage  that,  hke  Falstaff's 
wit,  it  is  contagious.  The  same  troops  who,  a  few  hours 
previously  had  run  away  from  their  own  fire,  now  fought 
like  lions.  The  French  were  received  in  an  echelon  of 
battalions,  the  left  thrown  forward,  and  their  attack  failed 
altogether.  A  regiment  of  Spanish  cavalry  charged  the 
French  line  with  brilliant  success.  The  Colonel  who  led 
the  charge  had  his  arm  broken  by  a  musket  ball ;  but  the 
effect  was  decisive.  As  I  was  giving  an  order  to  one  of 
the  battalions,  a  musket  ball  struck  me  in  the  mouth,  car- 
ried away  a  large  portion  of  my  teeth,  broke  the  jaw-bone, 
and  came  out  behind  the  ear.  I  was  stunned,  but  not  dis- 
mounted, though  instantly  covered  with  blood. 

'  The  attack  on  our  left  having  ceased,  I  proceeded  to 
the  left  of  the  line  to  report  to  Sir  Arthur  the  result.  On 
my  way,  I  fell  in  with  a  party  carrying  Colonel  Gordon  to 
the  rear, — he  was  severely,  but  not  dangerously  wounded, 
— when  a  shell  burst  immediately  upon  him,  and  killed  the 
Colonel  and  his  supporters.  On  the  road  to  Sir  Arthur, 
I  stopped  at  the  Blood  Hospital,  and  had  '  the  wound 
examined,  but  nothing  could  be  done  even  to  stop  the 
blood. 

'When  I  ascended  the  rising  ground  on  which  the 
General  and  his  staff  were  standing.  Sir  Arthur  called  out 


90  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

to  me,  "  Ah,  Whittingham,  I  wanted  you  to  take  a  mes- 
sage to  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque  : "  but  when  he  saw  the 
state  I  was  in,  he  turned  on  his  heel,  and  said  no  more. 
I  then  sat  down  on  the  grass  with  Lords  Fife*  andBur- 
ghersh,f  drank  a  tumbler  of  sherry,  and  smoked  some 
good  cigars  with  the  sound  side  of  my  mouth. 

'  About  seven  in  the  evening,  the  French  being  in  full 
retreat,  Lord  Fife,  Lord  Burghersh,  and  myself  bent  our 
course  towards  Talavera.  We  had  not,  however,  advanced 
a  hundred  yards,  when  a  shell  fell  just  in  front  of  our 
horses.  Lord  B.  instantly  dismounted,  and  laid  himself 
flat  on  the  ground  ;  whilst  Lord  Fife,  convulsed  with 
laughter,  kept  calling  to  me. to  look  at  the  extraordinary 
length  of  Lord  B.'s  figure,  which  he  insisted  was  beyond 
all  mortal  bounds.  The  only  wise  man  of  our  party  was 
Lord  B.,  for  the  shell  burst  and  covered  us  with  sand  and 
dust,  and  our  escape  was  wonderful. 

'  At  Talavera  my  reception  at  the  hospital  of  the  guards 
was  truly  kind ;  but  the  surgeon  wanted  experience  in  gun- 
shot wounds,  and  so  completely  mistook  my  case  as  to 
bind  up  my  fractured  jaw  with  a  wooden  splint,  thereby 
driving  all  the  splinters  of  the  jaw-bone  together  with  the 
pieces  of  the  ball  and  teeth  into  the  lacerated  flesh.  The 
pain  was  so  exquisite,  that  before  I  reached  my  quarters,  J 
I  tore  off  and  threw  away  the  whole  of  the  dressing. 

'  Sir  Arthur  gave  me  carte-hlanche  to  go  home  via  Lis- 
bon, or  to  go  to  Seville,  where  Marquis  Wellesley  had  just 
arrived  as  British  Ambassador.  I  should  have  preferred 
remaining  with  Sir  Arthur  as  one  of  his  aides-de-camp,  but 
he  thought  that  I  should  be  more  useful  with  the  Spanish 
army,  as  major-general^  to  which  rank  I  had  been  pro- 


*  Then  Lord  Macduff,  and  who  succeeded  his  father  on  17th  April,  1811, 
as  Earl  of  Fife. 

t  Afterwards  Earl  of  Westmoreland. 

X  It  would  appear  (vide  Preface)  that  Lord  MacduflF  took  him  off  the  field 
and  tended  him  at  Talavera. 


COLONEL  Roche's  letter  on  talavera.  91 

moted   for   my  services   at  Talavera   [by  the   Supreme 
Junta].' 

But  we  are  anticipating,  and,  leaving  the  '  Recollec- 
tions '  for  the  present,  must  return  to  the  correspondence 
of  the  period  : — 

Colonel  Eoche*  to  R,  E.  Davis,  Esq.  M.P. 

*  Talavera,  ^Oth  Jultj,  1809. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — The  28th  July  will  for  ever  remain 
memorable  for  the  glory  of  England  and  the  British  arms. 
The  French  to  the  number  of  50,000  arrived  on  the  even- 
ing of  the  27th  upon  the  Alberche,  and  immediately 
commenced  attacking  our  outposts,  upon  which  occasion 
there  was  some  loss  on  both  sides.  The  following  morn- 
ing the  whole  line  of  defence  was  formed  ;  the  British,  with 
their  left  resting  upon  a  tai'ge  of  hills,  crowned  with  bat- 
teries, and  extending  across  a  plain,  where  it  was  joined 
by  the  left  of  the  Spanish  Hne,  which  had  its  right  upon 
the  Tagus.  The  battle,  one  of  the  most  bloody  and 
obstinate  which  was  ever  fought,  commenced  at  five 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  28th.  The  attack  was 
made  with  the  whole  French  force  upon  the  British,  and 
lasted  until  half-past  eight  at  night ;  and,  notwithstanding 
we  had  not  17,000  men,f  the  enemy  were  defeated  in  all 
attacks  and  forced  to  retreat  with  immense  loss. 

'  We  have  lost  5,000  men  in  killed  and  wounded,  and,  I 
am  sorry  to  say,  my  excellent  friend  Whittingham  is  among 
the  latter.  His  wound  is  however — I  am  happy  to  tell — 
in  the  most  favourable  way,  and  of  no  consequence.     His 

*  Colonel  Roclie  (afterwards  Sir  Philip  Keating  Roche)  was  a  military 
agent  like  Whittingham.  He  was  then  Major  in  the  British  and  Colonel  in 
the  Spanish  service,  and  the  senior  officer  of  the  two,  and  remained  so  till 
1814,  when  Whittingham  was  made  full  Colonel  in  the  British  army. 

t  Colonel  Roche  alludes  to  the  British  numbers  only,  which  was  hardly 
fair  to  the  Spaniards,  to  whom  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  himself  did  justice, 
both  in  his  dispatch  home,  and  also  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Hookham  Frere. 


92  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

escape,  however,  was  miraculous.  A  musket  ball  entered 
his  mouth,  and  came  out  at  his  left  ear,  without  injuring 
or  touching  a  bone  or  a  tooth. ^  (?) 

'  He  is  in  the  same  house  with  Lord  Macduff  and  my- 
self, and  wants  for  nothing  ;  and,  in  short,  we  expect  he  will 
will  be  on  his  horse  in  a  week  or  ten  days.  He  met  with 
his  wound  as  he  was  bringing  up  a  Spanish  battalion^  in 
the  most  gallant  manner^  and  I  sincerely  congratulate,  you 
and  his  family  on  the  distinguished  part  he  has  taken  in 
[the]  most  arduous  and  glorious  day  England  ever  saw. 
Excuse  this  hasty  scrawl,  which  I  could  not  deny  myself 
the  pleasure  of  writing,  as  well  from  my  own  inclination, 
as  at  the  desire  of  my  friend  about  whom  you  may  be 
perfectly  at  rest.  He  is  at  this  moment  at  my  side,  in 
high  spirits. 

'  Believe,  me,  &c., 

'  K.  EOCHE.' 

[P.S.]  '  I  forbear  all  details,  as  you  will  see  the  whole 
by  the  dispatches. 

Extract  from  Sir  A.  Wellesley's  Dispatch  to  Viscount  Castle- 
reagh,  dated  Talavera  de  la  Reyna^  July  29,  1809. 

'  At  the  same  time  he '  [the  enemy]  ^  directed  an  attack 
upon  Brigadier-General  Campbell's  position  in  the  centre 
of  the  combined  armies,  and  on  the  right  of  the  British. 
This  attack  was  most  successfully  repulsed  by  Brigadier- 
General  Campbell,  supported  by  the  King's  regiment  of 
Spanish  cavalry,  and  two  battalions  of  Spanish  infantry, 
and  Brigadier-General  Campbell  took  the  enemy's  cannon. 

'  I  also  received  much  assistance  from  Colonel  O'Lalor, 
of  the  Spanish  service,  and  from  Brigadier-General  Whit- 

*  The  wound  would  have  been  more  miraculous  than  the  escape,  if  it  had 
really  done  no  more  injury  than  Colonel  Roche  at  first  supposed,  deceived  by 
the  patient  endurance  of  the  wounded  man. 

t  Colonel  Roche  should  have  written — kvo  Spanish  battalions. 


SIR  A.  WELLESLEY'S   DISPATCH.  93 

tingham,  who  was  wounded  in  bringing  up  the  two  Spanish 
battalions  to  the  assistance  of  Brigadier- General  Camp- 
bell:  

This  last  sentence  was  the  concluding  one  of  Sir  Arthur 
Wellesley's  dispatch,  and,  therefore,  very  conspicuous. 

On  July  29,  Sir  Arthur  writes  to  Mr.  Hookham 
Frere  : — 

'  I  was  well  satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  the  Spanish 
troops  who  had  an  opportunity  of  assisting  us.'  And  he 
gives  the  Minister  some  details  in  proof.  However,  as 
Cuesta  still  left  the  British  troops  without  supplies,  Sir 
Arthur  was  compelled  to  retreat,  though  that  retreat  did 
not  take  place  immediately. 

Lord  Wellesley  arrived  on  the  1st  of  August,  but  Mr. 
Hookham  Frere  continued  to  transact  business  for  some 
days  longer ;  and  the  first  official  letter  addressed  by  Sir 
A.  Wellesley  to  his  elder  brother  is  dated  the  8th  of 
August,  1809.  The  arrival  of  the  Marquis  was  an  event 
of  some  importance  to  the  subject  of  this  Memoir,  already 
known  to  his  Lordship  by  report,  and  soon  destined  to 
make  his  personal  acquaintance,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  next 
chapter. 

After  considering  that  extract  from  the  duke's  dis- 
patch given  above  in  italics,  and  also  reading  the  letter  of 
Colonel  Eoche  on  the  gallantry  of  Whittingham — both 
the  Commander-in-chief  and  the  Colonel  reporting  his 
woimd  as  well  as  his  gallant  action— the  candid  reader 
will  understand  how,  at  a  later  period,  the  utter  silence  of 
Napier's  too  partial  history  excited  very  natural  indigna- 
tion in  the  mind  of  the  injured  party. 

That  which  was  deemed  worthy  of  especial  mention  in 
the  brief  dispatch  of  the  victorious  General,  was  surely 
entitled,  in  common  fairness,  to  a  place  in  a  voluminous 
history,  going  into  details  far  more  extended  than  dis- 
patches can  ever  admit  of  when  written  by  victors  from 
the  field  of  battle. 


94  MEMOIR   OF  SIR  S.  F.  WlilTTINGHAM 


CHAPTEE  V. 

1809—1810. 

TO  SEVILLE  FOE  CTJKE  OF  WOUND — ATTACHED  TO  MABQUIS  WELLESLEY's 
EMBASSY — DK.  KEKNED y's  TREATMENT — DR.  KNIGHTON — GENERAL  CUESTA 
RESIGNS  HIS  COMMAND — SIR  A.  WELLESLEY'S  RETREAT — BRIGADIER- 
GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM's  confidential  employment   under  MARQUIS 

wellesley — don  pedro  de  creus  y  ximene8,  intendant  of  the 
spanish  army — affectionate  letter  to  colonel  cadogan — lord 
wellesley's  character — cadogan's  present  to  whittingham— a 
judge  of  wine — whittingham  major-general  in  spain — incon- 
VENIENCE OF  MARQUIS  wellesley's  AMBASSADORSHIP — SIR  ARTHUR 
wellesley's  candid  confession  of  ERROR — A  SECRETARY  OF  LEGATION'S 
JEALOUSY — WHITTINGHAM  AND  FRERE  DEEMED  TOO  PARTIAL  TO  ALBUR- 
QUERQUE — A  JUSTIFIED  PREFERENCE — LORD  WELLINGTON'S  ARISTOCRATIC 
PREJUDICES — CLOSE  OF  LORD  wellesley's  BRIEF  EMBASSY — THE  MARQUIS' 

eulogistic  farewell  letter — genial  shade  of  aristocracy — lord 
Wellington's  esteem  for  alava  and  whittingham — lord  macduff 
— lord  Wellington's  letter  to  general  whittingham — castanos 

appoints  him  general  of  division — EMPLOYED  IN  ISLA  DE  LEON — 
organizes  a  select  body  of  horse  —importance  of  the  BALEARIC 
ISLANDS — GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM 'S  PROMOTION  TO  MAJOR  IN  THE 
ENGLISH  ARMY — ALBURQUERQUE  RELIEVES  CADIZ — HIS  RESIGNATION — 
PROCEEDS  TO  LONDON  AS  AMBASSADOR — DUNDAS  TRANSLATED  INTO  SPANISH 

MR.  WELLESLEY  AND  GENERAL    GRAHAM   RECOMMEND  WHITTINGHAM'S 

PROMOTION — INVITATION  TO  HIS  NEPHEW — COLONEL  CAMPBELL  OF  THE 
MAJORCA  DIVISION — GENERAL  GRAHAM's  VOLUNTARY  TESTIMONY — MR. 
wellesley's  OFFICIAL  PRAISE — MARQUIS  WELLESLEY's  KIND  LETTER  TO 
GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM. 

Brigadier-General  Whittingham  found  his  wound  a 
more  serious  and  tedious  affair  than  he  had  at  first  anti- 
cipated ;  and  he  proceeded  to  Seville  for  change  of  air 
and  completeness  of  cure.  We  return  to  his  'Eecol- 
lections ': — 

'My  journey  to  Seville  was  performed  on  horseback 
with  pain  and  fatigue,  for  it  was  the  height  of  summer, 
and  I  lived  entirely  by  suction.     At  that  time,  and  for  six 


GENERAL   CUESTA   KESIGNS   HIS   COMMAND.  95 

months  afterwards,  I  could  take  nothing  but  tea  and 
soaked  bread. 

'  On  my  arrival  at  Seville,  the  Marquis  [Wellesley]  at- 
tached me  to  his  embassy,  for  the  time  that  I  should 
remain  there ;  and  he  wrote  to  the  Admiral  at  Cadiz  to 
request  that  he  would  send  to  Seville  one  of  his  best  sur- 
geons. Kennedy  came  ;  and,  after  examining  the  jaw, 
and  hearing  the  account  of  what  had  been  done,  he 
laughed  at  the  ignorance  which  had  been  displayed,  and 
that  very  evening  extracted  seven  pieces  of  bone,  one  of 
which  was  upwards  of  an  inch  long.  Ten  years  after- 
wards he  extracted,  at  Madrid,  a  piece  of  the  ball  twisted 
like  a  corkscrew,  which  had  remained  in  the  jaw-bone  all 
that  time. 

'  During  my  stay  at  Seville,  I  lived  as  one  of  Lord 
Wellesley's  family ;  and  there  I  formed  my  first  acquaint- 
ance with  that  excellent  man.  Sir  William  Knighton.  Our 
morning  rides  were  a  source  of  happiness  to  us  both,  and 
our  friendship  only  ended  with  his  life.' 

In  his  first  official  letter,  8th  August,  1809,  to  Marquis 
Wellesley,  as  Ambassador,  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  writes  : 
'  The  plan  of  operations  which  I  should  recommend  to  the 
Spanish  nation  is  one  generally  of  defence.  They  should 
avoid  general  actions,  but  should  take  advantage  of  the 
strong  points  in  their  country  to  defend  themselves  and 
to  harass  the  enemy.'  This  was  good  advice  ;  but  long 
before  the  hero  of  the  Peninsula  entered  Spain,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  memoir  had  (as  has  been  shown)  repeatedly 
urged  the  same  advice.  Well  would  it  have  been  for 
Spain  if  it  had  been  acted  on  from  the  beginning,  and 
mere  brainless  fighters  like  Cuesta  earlier  removed  from 
high  command. 

However,  on  the  13th  of  August,  that  stupid  and  in- 
fatuated old  General  sent  in  his  resignation  ;  and  General 
Eguia  succeeded  to  the  command.  But  General  Cuesta 
will,  alas !  re-appear  again ;  no  longer,  indeed,  to  torment 


96  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

the  great  English  chief,  but  to  worry  almost  beyond  en- 
durance, the  subject  of  this  Memoir. 

But  the  change  of  commanders  not  bringing  supplies 
to  the  English  soldiers,  Sir  A.  Wellesley  retreated  from 
Spain. 

Brigadiers-General  Whittingham  to  his  Brother-in-law. 

^  Seville,  22w^  August,  1809. 

'  My  dear  Davis, — -The  fracture  which  has  taken  place 
in  my  jaw-bone  will,  I  fear,  protract  very  considerably  the 
cure  of  my  wound.  I  have  lost  all  the  back  teeth  on  the 
left  side  of  my  face.  But  I  am  still  gaily  disposed,  and 
only  anxious  to  get  quickly  well,  in  order  to  take  the 
field  again. 

'  You  will  have  been  astonished  at  our  retreat  after 
our  glorious  victory  of  the  28th  [July]  ;  all  owing  to  that 
old  fool,  Cuesta,  who  has  done  everything  in  his  power  to 
ruin  his  country.  I  thank  God  that  he  is  at  last  removed ; 
and  if  the  Command-in-Chief  be  given  to  Sir  Arthur 
Wellesley,  things  will  yet  go  well. 

'  Lord  Wellesley  exceeds  even  the  high  idea  that  I  had 
formed  of  him !  The  people  here  look  up  to  him  as  their 
saviour. 

'Yenegas  has  fallen  back  upon  the  Carolina.  There 
will  probably  be  some  change  in  the  position  of  our 
armies  upon  the  Tagus,  of  which  I  shall  take  care  to  in- 
form you.' 

To  the  Same, 

^  Seville^  ^nd  September,  1809. 

'  My  dear  Davis, — You  will,  I  know,  be  happy  to  hear 
that  Lord  Wellesley  has  attached  me  to  his  service  for  the 
present  in  the  most  confidential  manner ;  and,  as  the  state 
of  my  wound  would  not  allow  of  my  retaking  the  field 
for  some  time,  I  cannot  be  more  profitably  or  more  agree- 


DON  PEDRO  DE  CREUS  Y  XIMENES.         97 

ably  employed.  As  the  first  thing  Lord  Wellesley  has 
encharged  to  me  is  the  most  profound  secrecy,  I  feel  my- 
self called  upon  to  be  silent  upon  everything  but  simple 
matter  of  fact,  even  with  you,  the  beloved  friend  of  my 
heart. 

'  It  is  currently  reported  that  the  French  are  retiring, 
and  even  about  to  abandon  Madrid.  But  I  confess  that  I 
have  strong  doubts  on  this  head.  The  British  army  ap- 
pears to  be  taking  up  a  strong  position  on  the  Portuguese 
frontier  near  Yelvas,  where  it  will  effectually  cover  the 
approaches  to  Seville,  and  at  the  same  time  refit  and  re- 
cover from  its  fatigues. 

'  My  wound  is  going  on  very  well.  It  will  be  a  long 
time  before  my  cure  is  completed ;  but  my  mind  is  at  ease 
since  his  Lordship  has  been  pleased  to  consider  that  my 
services  may  yet  be  useful.' 

At  this  time  there  was  living  at  Seville,  a  Spanish 
gentleman  named  Don  Pedro  de  Creus  y  Ximenes,  an 
Intendant  of  the  Spanish  Eoyal  armies.  His  family, 
originally  from  Catalonia,*  had  possessed  property  in 
Minorca  ever  since  his  ancestor,  James  de  Creus,  had, 
A.D.  1285,  accompanied  King  James  of  Aragon  to  the 
conquest  of  the  Balearic  Islands,  f  Don  Pedro  was  a 
widower,  with  two  twin  daughters,  both  remarkable  for 
wit  and  accomplishments,  and  the  elder  distinguished  by 
beauty  and  gra(^.e.  Here  the  English  Captain,  become  a 
Spanish  General,  lost  his  heart  to  the  elder.  Donna  Mag- 
dalena;  and  some  years  later  the  younger.  Donna  Barbara, 
made  a  conquest  of  Mr.  Bartlemy  Frere,  brother  of  Mr. 
Hookham  Frere,  and  attached  to  the  Embassy  in  Spain. 

*  The  nortli-eastemmost  point  of  Spain,  Cape  Creus,  gave  its  name  to  the 
family,  say  the  Spanish  genealogists. 

t  All  this  is  duly  certified  by  the  Madrid  heralds.  Don  Pedro's  father, 
Don  Francisco  Creus,  married  a  lady  of  the  ancient  family  of  Ximenes  j  thus 
the  formal  style  of  the  military  intendant  was  Don  Pedro  de  Creus  y 
Ximenes. 

U 


98  MEMOIR  OF  Sm   S.  F.    WHITTINGHAM. 


To  Lieutenant-Colonel  the  Hon.  Henry  Cadogan. 

'  Seville,  12th  September,  1809. 

'  My  dear  Cadogan, — Had  I  not  to  plead  illness  as  an 
excuse  for  not  having  sooner  answered  your  truly  affec- 
tionate letters  of  the  15th  and  22nd  July,*  I  should  be 
ashamed  to  address  a  friend  whose  good  opinion  I  esteem 
more,  infinitely  more,  than  I  can  express.  I  was,  as  you 
will  have  heard,  wounded  on  the  evening  of  the  28th  July, 
at  the  battle  of  Talavera.  I  did  not  quit  the  field  for  up- 
wards of  two  hours  afterwards  ;  and,  as  I  remained  during 
that  time  on  the  Hill  with  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  and  his 
Staff,  I  suppose  that  this  led  to  the  conclusion  that  my 
wound  was  slight.  It  was,  however,  severe,  which  I  only 
mention,  in  order  to  convince  my  friend  that  no  trifling 
cause  had  prevented  my  writing  to  him  sooner.  The  ball 
entered  my  mouth,  carried  off  four  teeth,  broke  the  jaw- 
bone and  took  its  exit  behind  the  ear.  Of  the  battle,  I 
shall  only  say  that  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  surpassed  every- 
thing that  even  my  romantic  fancy  had  formed  him  ca- 
pable of  In  the  retreat  to  the  position  of  the  27th,  his 
timely  presence  and  admirable  dispositions  saved  General 
Mackenzie's  division  from  utter  destruction.  Yet  Sir 
Arthur,  wnth  a  modesty  unequalled,  attributes  the  merit 
of  the  retreat  to  that  unfortunate  General,  and  from  his 
dispatch,  you  would  not  know  even  that  he  was  present. 

'  Lord  Wellesley  has  displayed  in  his  negotiations  with 
this  country  such  great  talents,  such  a  wonderful  know- 
ledge of  men  and  things,  that  whenever  his  proceedings 
are  made  public,  his  character,  high  as  it  now  stands,  will 
rise  much  higher  in  the  opinion  of  his  countrymen.     If  it 


*  None  of  the  letters  written  by  Colonel  Cadogan  to  General  Whitting-- 
ham  have  reached  the  Editor's  hands.  It  is  uncertain  whether  they  were 
lost  in  the  Peninsula,  or  returned  to  his  friends  after  his  heroic  death  on  the 
field  of  victory  at  Vittoria  in  1813. 


CADOGAN'S   present — A   JUDGE    OF   WINE.  99 

be  possible  to  save  this  unfortunate  country,  he  will  save 
it.*     If  he  fails,  all  is  lost 

'  Knowing,  as  you  do,  how  much  and  how  truly  I  par- 
ticipate in  all  your  joys  and  all  your  sorrows,  I  am  not 
afraid  to  say  that  no  event  of  my  life  has  given  me  more 
pleasure  than  your 's  being  placed  under  your  protec- 
tion. May  God  grant  you  both  as  large  a  portion  of  hap- 
piness as  my  heart's  best  wishes  would  insure  you.' 

'  A  thousand  thanks  for  your  little  box.  It  is  a  de- 
lightful present ;  and  every  time  I  open  and  shut  it — 
which  is  very  often  daily — it  brings  recollections  to  my 
mind,  which,  I  trust,  I  shall  ever  cherish  as  I  ought  to, 
and  as  I  now  do.  Mr.  Duff  has  promised  me  that  your 
wines  shall  be  of  the  very  best  quality  that  he  can  pro- 
cure; the  pale  sherry,  and  Paxarete.f  I  trust  that  they 
have  already  sailed,  but  I  shall  write  to  him  to-morrow  on 
the  subject. 

'  As  Lord  Wellesley's  dispatches  will  probably  be  very 
soon  laid  before  Parliament,  I  shall  say  nothing  upon 
the  unfortunate  causes  of  our  retreat  after  the  battle  of 
Talavera.  The  whole  blame,  however,  rests  with  the 
Spaniards.  Would  that  I  could  say  that  they  had  taken 
proper  steps  since  that  period  to  remedy  the  evils  which 
arrested  Sir  Arthur's  steps  in  his  brilliant  course  of  vic- 
tory. But  enough  of  this  subject.  You  will  see  it  ably, 
indeed,  discussed  by  the  pen  of  Lord  Wellesley.  You 
will,  I  know,  be  pleased  at  hearing  that  I  am  honoured  by 

*  The  Marquis  had  fully  adopted  Genera^  "Whittingham's  opinion  of 
Alburquerque,  as  compared  with  other  Spanish  generals.  On  the  21st 
August,  1809,  his  Lordship  wrote  to  Mr.  Canning,  then  Secretary  of  State 
for  Foreign  aflfairs : — ^  The  most  proper  person  for  the  command  in  Estre- 
madura  would  be  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque,  who  has  been  distinguished 
by  several  acts  of  gallantry  and  spirit  in  the  last  campaign.  He  is,  however, 
an  object  of  jealousy  to  the  junta,  and  if  he  should  be  appointed  to  the  com- 
mand in  Estremadura,  attempts  will  be  made  to  ^reduce  the  strength  of  that 
division  of  the  Spanish  army.' 

t  The  subject  of  this  Memoir  was  always — though  a  very  moderate  liver 
himself — noted  for  the  excellence  of  his  wines. 

H  2 


100  MEMOIR   OF    SIR    S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

his  Lordship's  confidence.  I  consider  this  distinction  as 
the  finest  feather  in  my  cap.  Have  I  not  used  a  French 
expression  ?  Adieu,  my  dear  friend.  My  wound  is  getting 
well  fast.  Several  bones  have  been  extracted.  But  I 
cannot  open  my  mouth;  and  I  live  like  a  woodcock — 
upon  suction.  In  consequence  of  the  battle  of  Talavera, 
the  Spanish  Government  has  been  pleased  to  make  me  a 
Major-General.*  I  enclose  the  Spanish  account  of  the 
battle  of  Talavera. 

'  Believe  me,  ever  yours  most  truly, 

'  Samford  Whlttingha-m/ 

Mr.  Frere  had  only  been  Minister,  but  the  Marquis  of 
Wellesley  had  come  out  as  Ambassador  Extraordinary. 
At  that  period  only  ambassadors  had  the  title  of  '  excel- 
lency ;'  and,  at  all  times,  an  ambassador  is  the  only  di- 
plomatist who  enjoys  full  and  complete  royal  honours. 
But  it  was  not  only  his  superior  rank,  but  also  his  fame 
and  great  abilities,  that  rendered  Lord  Wellesley 's  au- 
thority and  position  in  Spain  far  higher  than  that  of  his 
predecessor,  Mr.  Hookham  Frere.  The  latter  had,  how- 
ever, evidently  suited  well  with  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  ; 
and  no  candid  reader  of  the  dispatches,  can  fail  to  per- 
ceive that  the  great  General  was  uneasy  at  his  brother's 
advent  into  Spain.  It  was  indispensable  that  one  Eng- 
lishman should  have  the  preponderating  authority  of  his 
country  in  Spain,  and  Sir  Arthur  alone  could  unite  the 
civil  and  military  power  in  the  same  hands.  It  was  ne- 
cessary, therefore,  that  the  ambassador  or  minister  should 
play  a  secondary  part;  and  yet  it  could  hardly  be  expected 
that  the  Marquis  of  Wellesley  in  such  a  situation,  would 
entirely  defer  to  the  opinions  of  his  younger  brother,  and 
late  Indian  subordinate. 

The  British  agents  attached  to  Spanish  Generals  (re- 

*  His  commission  as  Mariscal  de  Campo  (as  Major-Generals  are  styled  in 
Spain)  was  dated  12th  August;  1809.     Vide  Appendix  D. 


SIR   ARTHUR   WELLESLEY's.  CANDID    pO^J'tl^lOiY.;  ;   101 

porting  previously  to  Mr.  Frere)  had  been  placed  under 
the  orders  of  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley.  But  Lord  Welles- 
ley  brought  out  orders  that  these  important  and  useful, 
though  subordinate,  officers  should  make  their  reports 
to  His  Excellency  the  Ambassador ;  which,  as  depriving 
Sir  Arthur  of  the  complete  control,  could  not  but  be  dis- 
pleasing to  him.  One  of  the  results  of  this  unsatisfactory 
state  of  things,  which,  fortunately,  was  only  temporary, 
was  a  series  of  snubbings  to  the  military  agents,  both 
direct  and  indirect.  The  following  extract,  however,  is 
quoted  rather  as  a  proof  of  the  magnanimity  of  Sir 
Arthur,  who  could  acknowledge  an  error  most  grace- 
fully  :~ 

Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  to  Marquis  Wellesley,  K.B. 

(Extract.) 

^  Badajos,  17th  September,  1809. 

'  My  Lord, — I  have  the  honour  to  enclose  the  extract 
of  a  letter  which  I  have  received  from  Colonel  Eoche, 
giving  an  account  of  the  state  of  the  Spanish  army,  which, 
I  am  sorry  to  say  is,  I  believe,  too  well  founded.  In  jus- 
tice to  Colonel  Eoche,  I  must  add  that,  before  I  joined 
Cuesta's  army,  he  wrote  to  me  an  account  of  its  state,  to 
which  I  was  not  inclined  to  pay  any  attention  at  that  time, 
but  which  I  afterwards  found  to  be  a  true  account  in 
every  respect.'  * 

Thus  Colonel  Eoche,  at  a  later  period,  had  confirmed,  in 
letters  to  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley,  the  accounts  w^hich  the 
then  Colonel  Whittingham  had,  months  before,  sent  to  the 
Minister,  Mr.  Hookham  Frere.  Even  the  greatest  of 
mortals  is  hable  to  occasional  errors.  Sir  Arthur  had 
been  somewhat  too  tardy,  by  his  own  confession,  in  ap- 
preciating the  full  demerits  of  Cuesta's  command.  Now, 
Cuesta  was  the  jealous  enemy  of  the  gallant  Duke  of  Al- 

*    Wellington  Dispatches,  vol.  v.  p.  162. 


19'3:  :,/:  ^/. :  cMiairom:  OF  SIR  s.  f.  whittingham. 

burquerque,  and  may  for  a  time  have  injured  the  latter 
in  the  British  Commander's  opinion,  and  caused  him  to 
disparage  the  Spanish  Duke  to  the  newly  arrived  British 
Ambassador.  Mr.  Hookham  Frere  and  General  Whit- 
tingham both  sympathized  with  Alburquerque,  as  against 
old  Cuesta  and  the  Junta  of  Cadiz  ;  and  the  subsequent 
miserable  conduct  of  Cuesta,  and  the  gallant  relief  of 
Cadiz  by  Alburquerque  fully  justified  this  preference. 
But  Cuesta  and  the  Junta  had  then  their  partisans,  and 
amongst  these  was  evidently  Mr.  Charles  Vaughan,  the 
Secretary  of  Legation  at  Cadiz,  who  appears  to  have  been 
at  that  time  jealous  of  the  influence  which  General  Whit- 
tingham had  with  Mr.  Frere,  the  Minister,*  as  well  as  with 
Alburquerque.  Mr.  Vaughan  was,  nevertheless,  destined, 
a  few  years  later,  when  Minister  himself,  officially  to  re- 
cord his  gratitude  to  General  Whittingham  for  the  aid  of 
his  influence. 

On  the  21st  of  September,  1809,  Lord  WeUington 
finishes  a  letter  to  Marquis  Wellesley  with  this  sentence  : 
'  Although  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque  is  prone  by  many, 
amongst  others  by  Whittingham  and  Frere,  and  is  feared 
by  the  Junta,  you  will  find  him  out.'  f 

It  is  certain  that  nothing  worse  was  ever  found  in  the 
gallant  Duke  of  Alburquerque  than  a  too  sensitive  mind, 
and  that  defective  education  which  was  then  common  to 
the  Spanish  nobility.  His  vigour,  valour,  and  energy,  as 
will  be  seen  hereafter,  astonished  Lord  WeUington  himself 
some  months  later.  How  he  was  persecuted  to  death  by 
the  Junta  is  touchingly  recorded  in  the  pages  of  the  honest 
and  truthful  Southey ;   one  of  the  rare  cases  of  a  man 

*  The  strong  animosity  of  Napier  to  Frere  has  unmistakeably  extended 
itself  to  his  friend  Whittingham ;  and  he  eagerly  makes  use  of  an  expres- 
sion of  the  Secretary  to  disparage  the  judgment  of  the  Minister  and  of  the 
Military  Agent. 

t  If  the  reader  refer  to  the  note  at  page  84,  he  will  see  that  some  influ- 
ence (probably  that  of  General  Cuesta)  must  have  been  used  to  change 
Lord  Wellington's  former  good  opinion  of  Alburquerque. 


LORD  Wellington's  aristocratic  prejudices.     103 

almost  literally  dying  of  a  broken  heart.  Such  sensitive- 
ness was  not,  however,  it  must  be  confessed,  calculated  to 
win  the  confidence  of  that  cold  calm  hero,  who  afterwards 
acquired  the  epithet  of  the  Iron  Duke.  The  confidence 
of  Marquis  Wellesley  in  General  Whittingham  continued, 
as  will  be  seen,  unshaken. 

Lord  Wellesley  wished  to  assemble  the  Cortes.  Lord 
Welhngton  acknowledged  that  he  had  '  a  great  dislike  to 
a  new  popular  assembly.'* 

The  liberal  spirit  of  the  Marquis  was  ready,  not  only  to 
detect,  but  also  to  patronize  merit  wherever  he  found  it 
united  to  integrity.  Whereas,  even  a  year  later,  in  spite 
of  the  continuance  of  a  bloody  war,  we  find  the  illustrious, 
but  too  aristocratic  hero  of  the  age,  urging  upon  that  truly 
royal  '  Soldier's  Friend,'  the  Duke  of  York,  the  propriety 
of  more  speedily  promoting  'ofiicers  of  family,  fortune, 
and  influence  in  the  country.' f — As  if  aristocratic  officers 
were  neglected  in  those  days  !  But  these  remarks  are 
wholly  of  the  present  age.  No  such  thoughts  occurred 
to  the  subject  of  this  Memoir,  then  almost  equally  the 
devoted  humble  admirer  of  the  two  illustrious  brothers ; 
the  younger  not  having  as  yet  entirely  eclipsed  the  elder, 
and  the  elder  being  decidedly  the  more  amiable  as  well  as 
the  more  liberal  of  the  two. 

General  Whittingham  passed  a  happy  time  in  the  house 
of  the  noble  and  genial  Ambassador  at  Seville,  and  in 
visiting  his  future  father-in-law,  who  then  resided  in  that 
town.  But  the  stay  of  Lord  Wellesley  in  Spain  was  to 
be  very  brief,  and  ere  long  he  was  about  to  exchange  his 
not  very  satisfactory  position  in  the  Peninsula  for  the 
higher  post  of  a  Cabinet  Minister  in  England.  But  brief 
as  his  sojourn  in  Spain  had  been,  it  had  been  long  enough 
to  fully  appreciate  the  merits  of  that  English  captain  of 

*  Lord  Wellington's  letter  to  Marquis  Wellesley  of  22nd  September, 
1809. 

f  Vol.  vi.  page  325,  of  the  Wellington  Dispatches. 


104  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

dragoons,  who  was  now  serving  as  major-general  in  the 
Spanish  service. 

Major-General  Whittingham  to  his  Brother-in-law, 

^  Seviile,  Uh  November,  1809. 

'  I  have  been  so  long  without  writing  to  you,  that  I  am 
almost  ashamed  to  take  up  my  pen.  I  wish  that  I  could 
give  you  a  good  account  of  my  wound ;  but  it  is  very 
troublesome.  Bones  are  continually  extracting,  and 
matter  has  repeatedly  formed  under  my  skin.  There  is, 
however,  nothing  in  it,  I  believe,  dangerous ;  and  patience, 
the  best  of  all  remedies,  must  be  my  doctor. 

'  This  morning  we  have  accompanied  Lord  Wellesley  to 
his  audience  of  leave,  and  to  the  presentations  of  Lord 
Wellington  and  Mr.  Bartlemy  Frere.  Lord  Wellesley 
goes  to-morrow  to  Cadiz,  whither  I  should  accompany 
him,  if  my  health  permitted.  He  exceeds  every  idea  that 
I  had  formed  of  him.  I  think  that  the  Marquis  as  a  poli- 
tician, and  Lord  Wellington  as  a  general,  will  save  Europe. 
It  will  give  you  great  satisfaction  to  know  that  Lord 
Wellesley  has  treated  me  with  the  most  marked  attention 
during  his  residence  at  Seville,  and  is,  I  have  reason  to 
believe,  well  satisfied  with  me.  Nothing  connected  with 
this  mission  has  given  me  more  heart-felt  pleasure  than  the 
friendship  which  I  have  formed  with  Dr.  Knighton,*  the 
physician  and  confidential  friend  of  Marquis  Wellesley. 
I  recommend  him  to  you,  my  dear  Davis,  in  the  strongest 
•  manner.  You  will  thank  me  for  it  hereafter  ;  and  I  love 
to  hope  that  I  shall  have  laid  the  foundation  of  a  lasting 
and  mutually  interesting  friendship.'!'  I  have  requested 
Dr.  Knighton,  who  will  deliver  to  you  this  letter,  to  in- 
troduce you  to  Sydenham.  He  was  secretary  to  Lord 
Wellesley  during  his  government  in  India,  possesses  his 

*  Afterwards  Sir  William  Knighton,  the  well-known  private  secretary 
and  confidential  friend  of  George  IV. 
t  And  so  it,  literally,  was  the  case. 


THE   MARQUIS'S   EULOGISTIC   FAREWELL   LETTER.        105 

confidence  most  completely,  and  well,  indeed,  deserves  it. 
I  have  known  few  such  men !  You  will  thus  become  in- 
timately acquainted  with  Lord  Wellesley's  character.  He 
is  the  greatest  man  I  ever  knew,  in  the  best  sense  of  the 
expression.  He  has  a  power  of  attaching  men  to  him 
that  must  be  felt,  for  it  cannot  be  described  without  ap- 
parent exaggeration.  Notwithstanding,  living  with  Lord 
Wellesley  is  more  like  living  with  an  amiable  monarch 
than  with  a  private  person.  His  good  breeding  is  perfect; 
and  so  nice  is  his  sensibility  on  this  point,  that  the  slightest 
deviation  shocks  and  offends  him.  In  short,  you  will,  I 
hope,  become  acquainted  with  him,  and  form  your  own 
opinion  upon  this  most  wonderful  man. 

'I  am  at  present  translating  our  cavalry  tactics  into 
Spanish.  So  soon  as  my  wound  is  well,  I  shall  apply  for 
the  command  of  a  division  of  [Spanish]  cavalry.' 

Here  follows  Lord  Wellesley's  official  acknowledgement 
of  General  Whittingham's  services ;  a  portion  of  which  is 
placed  in  italics  by  the  Editor  : — 

Marquis  Wellesley  to  Major-General  Whittingham. 

'  Cadiz,  lO^A  November,  1809. 

'  Sir, — I  have  the  honour  to  inform  you  that,  having 
obtained  His  Majesty's  leave  of  absence  from  Spain,  the 
charge  of  the  embassy  has  devolved  on  Mr.  Bartholomew* 
Erere,  with  whom  I  request  you  to  continue  your  corre- 
spondence, according  to  the  directions  which  you  have 
received  from  Lord  Castlereagh. 

'  I  have  great  pleasure  in  availing  myself  of  this  oppor- 
tunity to  communicate  to  you  my  sincere  acknowledge- 
ments for  the  valuable  information  received  from  you 
since  my  residence  in  Spain.     On  every  occasion^  your 

*  Thus  written  in  the  original.     Mr.  Frere  was  so  christened ;  though 
usually  called  Bartlemy  or  Bartle  for  the  sake  of  brevity. 


106  MEMOIR   OF  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTmGHAM. 

public  conduct  has  been  distinguished  by  the  greatest  zeal, 
ability,  and  integrity ;  and  I  discharge  a  most  grateful 
public  duty,  in  signifying  to  you  my  entire  approbation  of 
the  satisfactory  manner  in  which  you  have  been  employed 
both  by  the  British  and  Spanish  Governments  in  Spain. 
With  great  respect  and  esteem,  I  have  the  honour  to  be, 
Sir, 

'  Your  faithful  and  obedient  servant, 
'  Wellesley.' 

To  serve  under  Marquis  Wellesley  might  certainly 
be  called  serving  under  the  shade  of  the  aristocracy ; 
not,  indeed,  winter's  '  cold  shade,'  but  the  genial  and 
refreshing  shade  of  summer.  Only  three  months  had 
General  Whittingham  served  under  him,  and  yet  how 
warmly  and  ungrudgingly  had  that  amiable  and  all- 
accomplished  nobleman  acknowledged  his  services  and 
his  merits. 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  B.  Frere,  written  a  few  days  after 
Lord  Wellesley's  departure,  and  dated  17th  November, 
1809,  Lord  Welhngton  strongly,  though  indirectly,  ac- 
knowledged the  military  talents  of  the  officer,  whose 
ability  in  civil  matters  his  brother  had  so  lately  recorded. 
It  must  be  premised  that  General  Alava  was  already  the 
friend  of  Lord  Wellington,  and  afterwards  served  on  his 
personal  staff.  The  hero  wrote :  '  I  do  not  understand 
the  Duque's*  retreat  from  his  position.  He  never  ap- 
prized me  of  it.  It  is  very  desirable  that  Alava  and 
Whittingham — as  soon  as  he  is  able, — should  be  sent  to 
the  Duque  de  Alburquerque,  who,  although  he  does  not 
want  spirit,  is  deficient  in  other  quahfications  for  a  com- 
mander, which  his  confidence  in  those  officers  can  alone 
supply.'  f 

A  sentence  of  the  same  letter  reminds  the  Editor  of  one 

*  The  Duke  of  Alburqaerque. 

t  Vol.  v.,  page  292,  of  the  Wellington  Dispatches. 


Wellington's  letter  to  general  whittingham.  107 

of  the  most  gallant  of  British  nobles,  who  was  a  true  and 
staunch  friend  to  General  Whittingham,  namely.  Lord 
Macduff,  afterwards  Earl  of  Fife.  Lord  Wellington 
wrote :  '  I  am  most  anxious  about  Areyzaga's  corps,  the 
fate  of  which  must  be  decided  before  this  time.  If  he 
should  fail,  the  situation  of  the  Duque  del  Parque  will 
become  critical.'  Lord  Macduff  was  fighting  under  the 
orders  of  General  Areyzaga,  w^hose  army  of  La  Mancha  was 
totally  defeated  at  Ocaiia  on  the  19th  November,  1809. 
Lord  Macduff  exhibited  his  wonted  valour,  and  exerted 
himself  in  vain  to  retrieve  the  fortunes  of  the  day. 
Though  without  a  commission  in  the  British,  his  Lordship 
eventually  became  major-general  in  the  Spanish  army.  It 
does  not  appear,  however,  though  so  stated  in  the  Peerage, 
that  he  really  was  wounded  at  Talavera. 

The  original  of  the  letter  addressed  by  Lord  Welling- 
ton to  Major-General  Whittingham,  and  dated  Badajoz, 
22nd  December,  1809,  is  not  in  the  Editor's  possession  ; 
and,  from  want  of  space,  it  is  not  copied  at  length  from 
Gurwood's  Dispatches.*  An  extract  wall  suffice  for  this 
Memoir  : — 

To  Major- General  Whittingham. 

'  Badajos,  2'2nd  December,  1809. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — I  am  concerned  to  hear  that  the  state 
of  your  wound  has  obliged  you  to  go  to  Gibraltar  ;  but  I 
wish  that  while  you  are  in  that  part  of  the  Peninsula,  you 
would  take  an  opportunity  of  seeing  or  writing  to  General 
Yenegas  on  the  subject  of  the  defence  of  Cadiz.'  [Then 
his  Lordship  enters  into  details  of  the  military  preparations 
required,  &c.,  at  great  length,  and  the  letter  thus  termi- 
nates] :  '  These  are  the  points  to  which,  in  particular,  I 
would  draw  the  attention  of  General  Yenegas  if  I  were 
likely  to  see  him  ;  but  as  that  is  not  probable,  I  beg  you 

*  VoL  v.,  page  386. 


108  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

either  to  see  or  write  to  him  the  sentiments  which  I  have 
above  written  to  you. 

'  Beheve  me,  &c. 

'  Wellington. 

^Major-General  Whittingham.'* 

Thus  Lord  Welhngton,  in  1809,  recognized  Whitting- 
ham's  rank  in  Spain  as  that  of  a  general  officer,  and  never 
wrote  to  him  nor  of  him  under  a  lower  title  till  peace  was 
concluded,  and  he  reverted  to  his  humbler  position  in  the 
British  Army.  How  ignorant  of  these  facts  must  have 
been  that  historian  who  describes  the  major-general  of 
1809  as  only  a  colonel  of  cavalry  in  1811 !  To  be  sure, 
the  Duke's  dispatches  generally  were  not  then  all  available 
to  the  historian  when  he  wrote  as  Colonel  Napier,  but 
those  announcing  victories  had  at  least  appeared  in  the 
'  Gazette.'  As  early  as  1809,  in  Lord  Wellington's  dis- 
patch of  Talavera,  that  hero  had  called  Whittingham 
brigadier-general,  the  Spanish  rank  taking  full  effect  in 
the  Peninsular  War.  But  Napier's  natural  disgust  against 
the  Spaniards  extended  itself,  apparently,  even  to  the 
Enoflish  who  served  with  them,  and  his  misstatements 
must  be  compared  (by  all  lovers  of  impartiality)  with  the 
more  correct  statements  of  Southey,  and  especially  with 
the  facts  narrated  in  the  Wellington  Dispatches. 

But  it  is  necessary  to  revert  here  to  General  Whitting- 
ham's  private  correspondence  : — 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  San  EoQUE^t  8^A  January,  1810. 

'  I  love  to  hope,  before  I  sail  for  the  new  world,J  to 
pass  a  few  months  with  you  and  my  dear  Mrs.  D. ;  and  I 

*  In  a  note  to  this  letter,  Garwood  represents  Whittingham  as  then  a 
Lieut.- Colonel  in  the  British  Army,  whereas  he  was  only  a  Captain,  and 
gazetted  a  Major  only  on  the  12th  March,  1810.  Garwood  was  misled, 
perhaps,  by  Napier's  history.     (See  Appendix  D.) 

■f  Near  Gibraltar. 

X  There  was  at  that  time  a  plan  for  sending  an  expedition  to  South 
America,  to  recover  the  revolted  colonies  for  Spain. 


ORGANIZES   A   SELECT   BODY   OF   IIOESE.  109 

have  now  a  double  interest  in  this  wish,  as  it  will  give  me 
an  opportunity  of  introducing  my  dear  Mrs.  W.,  to  whom 
I  was  married  on  Friday  last  at  Gibraltar.  General 
Castanos  gave  her  away.  We  are  now  at  San  Eoque, 
and  as  soon  as  my  wound,  which  is  still  very  trouble- 
some, will  permit,  I  shall  go  to  Cadiz,  where  I  have  some 
very  interesting  affairs  to  canvass  with  the  Governor, 
General  Yenegas,  by  the  express  desire  of  Lord  Wel- 
lington. 

'  I  pay  the  greatest  attention  to  my  papers.  I  keep 
copies  and  originals,  as  circumstances  permit,  and  when 
I  have  the  happiness  of  seeing  you,  I  shall  deposit  the 
whole  in  your  hands.*  I  have  never  had  so  delicate  a 
part  to  play  as  at  this  moment.  I  am  consulted  by  the 
leaders  of  the  different  parties,  and  they  trust  me  with 
their  secret  views  and  intentions.  I  communicate  every- 
thing to  Lord  Wellesley,  and  I  am  now  anxiously  waiting 
his  orders.f  The  Spanish  Government  will  employ  me 
as  major-general  the  moment  I  return  to  Seville.  I  have 
received  a  very  pressing  letter  on  the  subject.  But  in  the 
present  situation  of  their  army,  I  will  not  risk  the  httle 
fame  that  I  may  have  acquired  by  taking  the  command 
of  a  division  of  cavalry.  But  I  will  request  to  be  em- 
ployed as  a  major-general  attached  to  the  staff  of  the 
army  of  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque.  This  will,  in  fact, 
make  me  second  in  command,  at  the  same  time  that  I 
avoid  the  dreadful  responsibility  of  directly  commanding 
ill-disciplined  and  disheartened  troops.' 

To  the  Same. 

'  GiBKALTAR,  22wc?  January,  1810. 

'  General   Castanos    is   appointed   Captain-General    of 
Andalusia,  which  gives  him,  in  fact,  the  supreme  com- 

*  Though  much  of  his  correspondence  has  been  lost,  yet  a  great  deal  has 
been  preserved,  which  would  fill  volumes. 

t  Lord  Wellesley  was  now  Minister  for  Forei^  Affairs, 


110  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

mand.  He  takes  me  with  hiin  as  one  of  his  generals  of 
division.  We  leave  this  place  to-morrow.  Mrs.  W.  will 
remain  at  Cadiz,  and  I  shall  immediately  take  the  field 
with  the  General.  The  French  are  about  to  attack  the 
Sierra  Morena  on  three  points.  I  think  that  their  grand 
attack  will  be  by  the  road  of  Almadin  de  la  Plata.  I  fear 
that  Andalusia  will  be  lost.  But  the  Isla  de  Leon  may 
be  occupied  in  great  force,  and  will  protect  the  advances 
to  Cadiz,  and  give  time  for  any  combined  operations  in 
the  rear  of  the  French  army.  I  pray  you  don't  lose  sight 
of  my  Majority.* 

'  The  Junta  retire  to  the  Isla  de  Leon,  and  the  Junta  of 
Seville  are  entrusted  with  the  defence  of  the  kingdom  of 
Andalusia.     My  wound  is,  I  hope,  well.' 

On  the  2nd  February,  1810,  after  a  very  rapid  march 
of  260  English  miles,  Alburquerque  entered  the  Isla  de 
Leon  with  8,000  men,  and  thus  saved  Cadiz.  He  was 
afterwards  made  Governor  of  the  City  and  President  of 
the  Junta.  On  the  7th  of  same  month,f  Lord  Welling- 
ton writes  from  Mafra  to  the  Hon.  General  Stewart : 
'  I  cannot  sufficiently  recommend  you  to  endeavour  to 
keep  up  a  good  understanding  with  the  Spanish  officers. 
You  will  find  General  Castanos,  who  is  at  present  at  the 
head  of  the  Eegency,  and  General  Venegas,  who  is 
Governor  of  Cadiz,  highly  deserving  your  confidence  ;  as 
well  as  General  Whittingham,  who  is  an  English  officer, 
and  who  is,  I  understand,  at  present  at  Cadiz. 'J 

*  He  had  applied  to  be  promoted  to  be  Major  in  the  British  army,  being 
still  only  a  Captain. 

t   Wellington  Dispatches,  vol.  v.  p.  489. 

X  Two  days  later,  Lord  Wellington  wrote  to  Lord  Liverpool :  *  I  have 
received  intelligence,  which  I  believe  to  be  true,  that  the  Duque  d'Albur- 
querque's  corps  which  had  been  at  Carmona  on  the  24th  January,  and  was 
supposed  to  have  retired  across  the  Guadalquivir,  had  ;re tired  upon  Cadiz, 
and  actually  arrived  at  Xeres  on  the  1st  instant.'     Vol.  v.  p.  494. 


EMPLOYED   IN   ISLA   DE   LEON.  Ill 


To  his  Brother-in-law. 


'  IsLA  DE  Leon,  Id  March,  1810. 

'  I  am  occupied  from  morning  till  night.  The  Eegency 
place  an  unlimited  confidence  in  me.  The  Duke  [of 
Alburquerque]  consults  me  upon  everything,  and  has 
honoured  me  by  the  command  of  the  cavahy,  with  full 
powers  to  organize  as  I  may  think  proper.  I  have  trans- 
lated Dundas,  and  formed  a  corps  of  carabineers  chosen 
from  the  different  regiments  for  instruction.  The  officers 
assemble  every  evening  at  my  house,  and  the  practice  of 
the  day  is  rendered  familiar  and  easy  by  the  theory  clearly 
explained  at  night.  The  Duke  wishes  me  to  take  the 
employment  of  Chef  de  VEtat  Major.  I  have  no  objec- 
tion to  it.  It  is  the  next  [post]  to  the  Commander-in- 
Chief* 

General  Whittingham,  it  is  plain,  commanded  all  the 
Spanish  cavalry  at  Isla  de  Leon,  although  he  there  chiefly 
dedicated  himself  to  the  organization  of  a  select  number. 
He  did  not  thereby  (as  some  have  apparently  ignorantly 
imagined)  become  again  a  simple  colonel  of  cavalry. 

In  the  beginning  of  March,  the  Eight  Hon.  Henry 
Wellesley  arrived  at  Cadiz,  as  His  Majesty's  Minister  in 
Spain,  and  from  this  time  it  was  with  him  that  General 
Whittingham  habitually  corresponded. 

In  a  letter  from  Lord  Wellington  to  Mr.  Wellesley, 
dated  Viseu,  27th  March,  1810,  there  are  two  sentences 
that  bear  connection  with  the  future  proceedings  of  General 
Whittingham  in  Spain,  and  are,  therefore,  here  inserted. 

'  Whether  the  fleet  is,  or  is  not  sent  to  Minorca,  the 
security  of  the  Balearic  Islands  is  a  consideration  of  the 
utmost  importance,  which  must  not  be  lost  sight  of  You 
and  I  (I  probably  more  than  you)  will  be  considered  re- 

*  The  rest  of  the  letter  is  filled  with  military  speculations  and  projects 
regarding  the  future  campaigns. 


112  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  W  HITTING  HAM. 

sponsible  for  everything  that  occurs,  although  we  have  no 
means  in  our  power,  and  no  power  to  enforce  the  execu- 
tion of  what  is  necessary. 

'It  is  desirable  that  we  should  advert  to  everything, 
and  should  recommend  to  the  consideration  of  the  Spanish 
Government  those  measures  which  appear  to  us  to  be 
necessary.  Accordingly,  I  suggest  to  you  to  pass  a  note 
to  the  Eegency,  recommending  to  their  serious  attention 
the  security  of  the  Balearic  Islands,  Minorca  particularly  ; 
they  should  send  there,  in  the  first  instance,  the  Viscomte 
de  Gaud's  corps  which  is  now  in  Algarve ;  they  sliould, 
besides,  endeavour  to  raise  men  in  Cadiz,  where,  by  proper 
measures,  they  could  get  thousands.' 

Yenegas's  pohtics  were  considered  of  a  doubtful  cha- 
racter, but  he  was  junior  to  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque, 
and  therefore  Lord  Welhngton  writes  in  February  that  he 
considered  his  opinions  immaterial,  '  particularly  recol- 
lecting a  letter  which  I  wrote  to  General  Whittingham  in 
December  upon  this  subject,  which  I  know  was  shown  to 
Venegas,  and  which  was  certainly  calculated  to  inspire 
confidence  rather  than  mistrust  of  our  designs  in  regard 
to  Cadiz.' 

On  the  12th  March,  1810,  Samford  Whittingham's  name 
appeared  in  the  '  London  Gazette,'  as  promoted  from 
Captain  in  the  13th  Light  Dragoons,  to  be  Major  of 
Infantry  on  half  pay.  In  a  letter  dated  Ma  de  Leon, 
1st  April,  1810,  he  writes,  introducing  Mr.  B.  Frere, 
then  about  to  proceed  to  England  to  his  brother-in-law, 
Mr  Davis. 

To  the  Same. 

'  IsLA  DE  Leon^,  %th  April,  1810. 

'  I  believe  that  I  mentioned  to  you,  that  the  Duke  of 
Alburquerque  has  resigned  the  command  of  this  army, 
and  is  going  as  ambassador  to  England.  The  Eegency 
wished  me  to  have  accompanied  him,  and  proposed  giving 


DIVISION   OF   HIS   day's   LABOUE.  113 

me  a  special  commission  for  the  arms  and  accoutrements 
of  the  cavah-y;  but  this  plan  was  objected  to  by  Mr. 
Wellesley  and  General  Graham,  who  were  pleased  to  con- 
sider my  presence  here  as  absolutely  necessary  ! 

'  I  have,  you  know,  undertaken  to  introduce  a  new 
system  of  tactics  in  the  Spanish  cavalry.  My  day  is  at 
present  thus  divided:  From  eight  in  the  morning  till 
eleven,  I  exercise  three  squadrons  on  foot,  which  I  have 
selected  for  the  purpose  of  instruction.  From  twelve  to 
three,  I  am  occupied  in  correcting  the  translation  of 
Dundas  on  "  Cavalry  Movements."  From  three  to  five, 
exercise  of  a  troop  on  horseback.  From  seven  to  nine, 
academy  of  all  the  officers  of  the  three  squadrons  of  in- 
struction at  my  house,  where  the  principles  of  cavalry 
movements  are  explained  to  them.  Add  to  all  this  the 
visits  that  I  have  to  make  to  the  Commander-in-Chief, 
General  Castaiios,  and  the  various  conferences  with  Mr, 
Wellesley  and  General  Graham,  and  you  will,  I  think, 
agree  with  me,  that  my  time  is  tolerably  well  taken  up. 

'  On  Sunday  next,  the  Eegency,  the  Minister  of  War, 
Generals  Graham  and  Stuart,  General  Giron,  and  all  the 
officers  of  high  rank  in  the  island  are  to  be  present  at  the 
review  of  the  regiment  which  I  have  formed  on  the  new 
system.  The  regiment  will  go  through  all  the  principal 
manoeuvres,  and  the  Government  will  determine  whether 
the  new  system  is  to  be  adopted  or  not !  Notwithstand- 
ing the  acknowledged  necessity  of  a  system  of  tactics  for 
the  cavalry,  and  the  beauty  and  goodness  of  that  pro- 
posed, I  am  by  no  means  confident  of  success.  The  In- 
spector-General of  the  cavalry  is  the  declared  enemy  of 
my  undertaking,  and  as  all  recommendations  for  promo- 
tion are  made  through  him,  almost  all  the  officers  of 
cavalry  follow  his  opinion.  Whatever  be  the  result,  I 
have  done  my  duty;  and  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  that, 
unless  a  change  of  system  takes  place,  dishonour  and  dis- 
grace will  ever  attend  the  Spanish  cavalry. 

I 


114  MEMOIR   OF  SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  In  losing  the  protection  of  the  Duke  [of  Alburquerque], 
I  have,  I  fear,  lost  a  great  support ;  but  be  it  as  it  may, 
nothing  would  induce  me  to  retain  the  command  of  the 
Spanish  cavalry,  unless  I  should  be  permitted  to  give  it 
that  degree  of  mobility  absolutely  necessary  for  its  success 
in  the  day  of  action. 

'I  have  entered  more  into  detail  than  may  appear 
necessary,  because  if  the  system  of  reform  be  not  adopted, 
I  shall  request  General  Castanos  to  relieve  me  from  this 
command,  and  to  make  me  Inspector-General  of  the  troops 
of  the  Balearic  Islands. 

'  I  pray  of  you  to  wait  upon  the  Duke  of  Alburquerque 
as  soon  as  he  comes  to  town.  One  of  his  aides-de-camp 
speaks  Enghsh  very  well.  I  am  sure  I  need  not  say  that 
anything  you  can  do  to  serve  or  to  amuse  the  Duke  wdll 
infinitely  oblige  me  ;  for  no  one  is  better  acquainted  than 
yourself  with  the  favours  he  has  conferred  on  me. 

'  The  Duke  has  left  the  command  of  this  army  in 
consequence  of  a  dispute  with  the  Junta  of  Cadiz.  It 
was  proposed  to  him  by  the  Eegency  (when  the  Duke 
determined  to  resign  his  command  here)  to  make  him 
Captain-General  of  the  Balearic  Islands !  I  was  to  have 
gone  with  him  as  head  of  his  staff.  This  idea  was  highly 
approved  of  by  Mr.  Wellesley.  The  Duke  was  to  have 
full  powers  to  recruit  in  Spain  for  the  army  which  he 
was  to  form  at  Majorca  and  Minorca ;  and  I  have  no 
doubt  that  in  less  than  four  months  we  should  have 
collected  20,000  men.  In  my  humble  opinion,  this, 
of  all  others,  was  the  situation  for  the  Duke.  At  first  he 
thought  so  himself,  but  the  advice  of  light  and  interested 
men  altered  his  mind,  and  he  determined  not  to  accept  it. 
The  embassy  was  then  thought  of.  It  pleased  him,  and 
everything  was  forthwith  fixed.  The  Duke  has  com- 
mitted a  capital  error,  and  of  this  he  will  sooner  or  later 
be  convinced.'* 

*  Southey  lias  recorded  the  sad  death  of  Alburquerque  at  the  Spanish 
Embassy  in  London. 


HIS   PROMOTION   RECOMMENDED.  115 

To  the  Same, 

asLA  DE  Leon,  2QthMay,  1810. 

'  As  Mr.  Wellesley  and  General  Graham  have  both 
written  to  request  that  I  may  be  made  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  in  Spain,  I  am  in  hopes,  notwithstanding  the 
difficulties  which  at  first  appear,  that  the  affair  may  be 
carried  through.'* 

'  It  was  settled  for  me  to  accompany  the  Duke  on  his 
embassy  to  England;  but  Mr.  Wellesley  and  General 
Graham  objected  to  it  so  strongly,  that  I  was  obhged  to 
request  General  Castanos  to  state  to  the  Duke  that  it 
could  not  be.  I  still  remain  in  command  of  the  cavalry, 
and  I  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  I  shall  have  the 
honour  of  introducing  a  complete  new  system  of  tactics 
for  the  cavalry  of  this  country.  It  is  incredible  the 
opposition  that  I  have  met  with,  but,  thanks  to  the  steady 
friendship  of  the  Duke  in  the  first  instance,  and  subse- 
quently of  General  Castanos,  I  am  in  a  fair  way  of  con- 
quering all  difficulties.  Nothing  would  enable  me  to  do 
the  Spanish  cavalry  so  much  good  as  clothing,  arming, 
and  equipping  one  corps  in  the  English  style.  Mr. 
Wellesley  would  send  out  a  complete  equipment  for  400 
hussars,  which  compose  the  corps  d'elite  that  I  have 
taken  from  the  whole  of  the  cavalry.  This  corps  would 
serve  as  a  model  for  clothing,  arms,  and  furniture,  and 
would,  I  am  convinced,  induce  the  Spanish  Government 
to  make  further  contracts  in  England  for  the  future 
clothing  and  arming  of  their  troops.' 

Jo  the  Same. 

^  ISLA  DE  Leon,  28^A  July,  1810. 

'  The  enclosed  letter  for  Torrens,  I  will  thank  you 
to  seal  and  forward  as  soon  as  you  have  read  it.     You 

*He  was  not  promoted  to  a  Lieutenant-Colonelcy  till  the  autumn  of 
1811,  but  the  Lieutenant-Colonelcywas  afterwards  dated  back  to  30th  May, 
1811. 

I2 


116  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

•will  see  by  its  contents  my  opinion  of  the  present  state 
of  affairs.  Be  assured  (but  this  is  entirely  entre  nous) 
that  unless  the  work  at  Santi  Petri  is  finished  in  a  proper 
manner  before  the  French  can  attack  us  in  force,  the 
island  will  be  lost,  and  if  this  unfortunate  event  should 
take  place,  Cadiz  must  at  last  fall ! 

'  For  my  own  part,  as  soon  as  the  clothing  complete 
arrives,  I  shall  present  the  regiment  of  cavalry  that  I  have 
formed  to  the  Government ;  and  I  may  venture  to  assert 
that  Spain  has  hitherto  possessed  no  such  corps.  I  have 
laboured  day  and  night,  and  I  flatter  myself  that  I  have 
succeeded.  But  as  the  scale  of  cavalry  in  this  island  is 
infinitely  small,  it  is  my  intention  to  propose  to  Govern- 
ment to  raise  a  corps  of  two  thousand  cavalry  in  Majorca ; 
and  I  shall  endeavour  to  have  the  clothing,  arms,  &c., 
from  Mr.  Wellesley.' 

[After  using  much  persuasion  to  induce  Mr.  Davis  to 
let  his  son  visit  him  in  the  Isla  de  Leon,  he  adds  : — ] 

'  He  will  in  me  find  not  only  an  affectionate  uncle,  but 
his  father's  oldest  and  best  friend.  Mrs.  W.  joins  w4th 
me  in  this  wish  ;  and  I  really  do  think  that  a  few  months 
so  employed  might  be  of  the  greatest  utility  in  his  future 
career.*  He  might  come  here  with  Major  Armstrong, 
who  is  about  to  return,  and  there  can  be  no  danger 
of  a  warlike  nature  at  present,  as  it  is  totally  impossible 
for  Buonaparte  to  attempt  anything  against  this  place  till 
he  has  driven  Lord  Wellington  out  of  Portugal — an  event 
his  Lordship  conceives  to  be  far  distant.' 

On  the  25th  September  he  writes  again  to  his  brother 
in-law  to  express  his  delight  at  learning  that  his  nephew 
is  coming  out,  and  promises  that  he  shall  not  enter  the 
service,  and  also  to  take  good  care  of  him. 

♦  As  a  member  of  Parliament. 


FIRST   TRIAL    OP   THE   NEW   CAVALRY.  117 


To  the  Same, 

'IsLA.  DE  Leon,  lOth  November,  1810. 

'  This  letter  will  be  delivered  to  you  by  Colonel 
Campbell,  who  goes  to  England  on  the  subject  of  the 
clothing  and  appointments  of  the  force  to  be  disciplined, 
organized,  &c.  &c.  in  Majorca  by  me.  I  am  to  have  the 
sole  direction  of  the  corps,  and  to  be  general,  head  of  the 
staff,  and  inspector.  It  is  a  great  undertaking.  Every- 
thing is  to  be  created  anew ;  but  I  trust  in  God  and  in 
my  good  fortune. 

'  Colonel  Campbell  is  one  of  my  most  intimate  friends. 
We  have  long  been  in  the  habit  of  the  greatest  intimacy, 
and  I  can  safely  and  cordially  recommend  him  to  your 
warmest  attentions.  I  am  delighted  that  Hart  is  coming.* 
Pray  would  you  choose  that  he  should  accompany  us  to 
Majorca?  I  think  he  might  pass  a  month  there  pleasantly. 
He  cannot  fail  to  learn  Spanish  with  us.  English  is 
hardly  ever  talked  at  our  house,  and  Mrs.  W.  will  be 
happy  to  give  him  lessons  in  her  native  tongue.  He 
will  find  an  old  and  intimate  friend  of  his  here  attached 
to  the  Embassy,  I  mean  Mr.  Clive.' 

At  the  Isla  de  Leon  occurred  the  first  trial  of  Spanish 
military  organization  on  a  very  small  scale.  How  he 
laboured  at  this  work,  limited  as  it  was  to  400  cavalry 
(ofiicers  and  men)  has  been  shown  in  his  correspondence 
with  Mr.  Davis,  his  brother-in-law.  As  to  its  results,  the 
two  subjoined  letters  will  testify  : — 

*  Mr.  Hart  Davis,  junior,  General  Whittingham's  nephew,  remained  a 
few  years  in  Parliament,  and  eventually  became  Deputy  Chairman  of  the 
Board  of  Excise,  in  which  post  he  established  the  reputation  of  great  ability 
and  unwearied  industry  in  the  public  service. 


118  MEMOIR   OF  SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 


Lieut-General  Graham*  to  Major-General  Whittingham. 

^IsLA  DE  Leon,  Id  December,  1810. 

'  My  dear  General, — Having  just  heard  that  you  are 
soon  to  leave  this  on  an  important  commission  to  the 
Balearic  Islands,  I  am  anxious  to  take  this  opportunity  of 
testifying  my  sincere  satisfaction  at  the  complete  success 
which  has  attended  your  exertions  here.  I  am  free  to 
confess  that  the  task  appeared  to  me  to  be  so  difficult  a 
one  that  I  much  doubted  that  even  your  perseverance 
and  skill  would  have  produced  the  desired  effect.  For  I 
should  have  considered  it  less  arduous  to  have  begun 
with  recruits  than  to  instruct  on  an  improved  system 
officers  and  men  who  at  first  probably  imagined  they 
required  no  instruction. 

'  But  the  readiness  and  precision  with  which  these 
squadrons  executed  every  formation,  and  performed  every 
evolution  that  can  possibly  be  required  of  cavalry,  con- 
vinced me  that  you  had  been  able  to  overcome  all  pre- 
judice, and  to  bring  these  squadrons  in  a  very  short 
time  into  a  high  state  of  discipline,  that  cannot  fail  to 
make  them  a  valuable  corps.  The  principle  of  good 
instruction  and  practice  is  common  to  both  infantry  and 
cavalry;  and  the  advantages  resulting  from  that  unifor- 
mity must  strike  forcibly  the  mind  of  all  mihtary  men 
who  give  themselves  the  trouble  of  thinking  on  pro- 
fessional points.  But  cavalry,  above  all,  requires  such  a 
variety  of  attention  that  the  system  of  the  greatest  sim- 
plicity must  be  the  best ;  according  to  the  state  of 
discipline,  this  arm  is  formidable  to  their  enemy  or 
dangerous  to  their  friends ;  and  till  cavalry  has  acquired 
confidence  in  itself  by  a  thorough  knowledge  of  its  powers, 
by  being  capable  of  acting  without  confusion,  one  would 
rather  go  into  action  without  it. 

*  Afterwards  Lord  Lynedoch. 


GENERAL   GRAHAM's   VOLUNTEERED   TESTIMONY.       119 

'  But  I  forget  myself  ;  for  least  of  all  to  you  can  it  be 
necessary  to  make  such  reflections. 

'  I  am  happy  to  think  that  you  will  now  have  it  in 
your  power  to  exert  your  talents  on  a  more  extensive 
scale  for  the  benefit  of  a  country  and  a  cause  in  which 
our  hearts  are  so  warmly  engaged.  Do  not  think  me 
vain  for  thus  offering  you  my  tribute  of  applause.  I 
am  merely  doing  justice  to  my  own  feelings.  Beheve 
me  ever,  my  dear  General, 

'  Most  truly  and  obediently  yours, 

'  Thomas  Graham.'* 

The  Right  Hon.  Henry  Wellesley  to  Major- General 
Whittingham. 

^  IsLA  DE  Leon,  IQth  November ^  1810. 

'  Sir, — I  cannot  avoid  expressing  to  you  the  satisfac- 
tion [which]  I  felt  at  witnessing,  this  morning,  the  com- 
plete success  of  your  exertions  to  bring  into  the  field  a 
corps  of  Spanish  cavalry,  formed  upon  the  model  of  a 
British  regiment,  and  in  a  perfect  state  of  discipline  and 
efficiency.  You  may  reasonably  take  to  yourself  the 
credit  of  having  introduced  into  the  Spanish  cavalry  a 
system  of  discipline,  which,  if  adopted  by  the  other 
corps,  cannot  fail  to  render  them  equal,  if  not  superior 
to  the  cavalry  of  the  enemy. 

'  The  steadiness  and  temper  with  which  you  have 
resisted  all  the  attempts  to  defeat  this  object,  and  the 
perseverance  and  skill  which  you  have  manifested  in 
bringing  it  to  perfection,  are  highly  creditable  to  you, 
and  justify  a  confident  expectation  that  your  efforts 
will  be  equally  successful  in  the  attainment  of  a  still 
more  important  object,  which,  with  a  view  to  the  im- 

*  In  the  Britisli  Service,  Graham  was  then  a  Major-General,  and 
Whittingham  only  a  Major,  a  fact  which  renders  the  tone  of  deference 
and  respect  employed  in  this  letter  equally  honourable  to  the  modesty  of 
the  superior,  and  to  the  merita  of  the  subordinate  officer. 


120  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

provemeut  of  the  Spanish  army,  you  are  now  about  to 
undertake. — I  have  the  honour  to  be,  Sir, 

'  Your  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

'  H.  Wellesley.' 

The  expectations  of  Mr.  Wellesley  were  destined  to 
be  reahzed  in  due  time ;  but  in  the  meantime  a  great 
mortification  was  being  prepared  by  destiny  for  General 
Whittingham.  But  this  year  closes  with  a  friendly 
letter  from  the  head  of  the  house  of  Wellesley  : — 

Marquis  Wellesley  to  Major-General  Whittingham. 

(Private.) 

^  Apsley  House,  9th  December,  1810. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — I  am  apprehensive  that  my  silence  may 
have  inclined  you  to  suppose  that  I  have  not  remembered, 
with  sufficient  attention,  your  valuable  services  at  Seville, 
and  my  estimation  of  your  talents  and  character.  But  I 
flatter  myself  that  when  you  reflect  on  the  sudden  manner 
in  which  I  was  cast  on  the  turbulent  flood  of  politics  in 
this  country,  and  on  the  nature  of  the  crisis  in  which  I 
have  been  required  to  act,  your  indulgence  will  furnish 
some  excuse  for  my  apparent  negligence. 

'  You  may  be  assured  that  I  have  used  every  endeavour 
to  forward  every  point  connected  with  your  most  useful 
plan  for  raising  a  corps  in  Spain,  although,  from  some 
accident,  I  have  not  yet  seen  Colonel  Campbell. 

'  I  shall  always  feel  a  deep  interest  in  whatever  regards 
your  welfare  and  honour.  I  hope  that  you  will  apprize 
me  at  the  earliest  moment  of  your  wishes  on  all  subjects 
of  importance  ;  and  that  you  will  continue  to  afford  me 
the  advantage  of  your  correspondence,  and  to  believe  me 
to  be,  my  dear  Sir, 

'  Your  faithful  friend  and  obliged  humble  servant, 

'Wellesley.' 


THE   GREAT   DIFFICULTY   OF  GENERAL   WHITTINGHAM.    121 


CHAPTEE  VI. 

1811. 

THE  GREAT  DIFFICULTY  OP  GEIfEEAL  WHITTINGHAM — NAPIER  AND 
SOUTHET  ON  THE  BATTLE  OF  BARROSA — GRAHAM'S  ASSUMPTION  OP 
COMMAND  —  HE  IMPUTED  NO  BLAME  TO  WHITTINGHAM  —  GENERAL 
WHITTINGHAM  COMMANDED  INFANTRY  AS  WELL  AS  CAVALRY — DISAD- 
VANTAGE OF  TRUSTING  TO  MEMORY — WHITTINGHAM's  OFFICIAL  REPORT 
TO  LA  PENA — ORDERED  TO  RETREAT  ON  MAIN  BODY — GRAHAM'S  SUC- 
CESSFUL CHARGE — WHITTINGHAM's  REPORT  INDIRECTLY  BLAMES  LA 
PENA — ACCIDENTALLY  DELAYED  ADVANCE — AN  EGREGIOUS  MISREPRE- 
SENTATION OF  FACTS— GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM's  LETTER  TO  MR.  DAVIS 
ON  BARROSA — THE  DUKE's  COMPREHENSIVE  TESTIMONY  IN  FAVOUR  OF 
WHITTINGHAM — THE  DUKE  OP  KENT's  SPONTANEOUS  TRIBUTE  TO  HIS 
MERITS. 

In  casting  in  his  lot  with  the  Spanish  army,  the  great 
difficulty  of  General  Whittingham  had  ever  been  to  find 
good  opportunities  for  distinguishing  himself,  whilst  serv- 
ing with  raw  and  undisciplined  troops  under  more  or  less 
incompetent  generals.  These  premises  duly  weighed,  it 
may  perhaps  be  considered  fortunate  that  only  on  one 
day  of  his  long  career  has  his  military  conduct  been  made 
the  subject  of  hostile  criticism,  and  this  not  by  any  official 
superior — either  English  or  Spanish — but  by  the  pen  of 
an  able,  eloquent,  and  gallant,  but  also  prejudiced  and 
partial  historian,  who  himself  held  a  very  subordinate 
position  in  the  Peninsular  War,  and  whose  bias  against 
the  Spaniards,  and  against  Englishmen  who  were  employed 
with  them,  appears  to  have  been  indiscriminate  and  un- 
bounded. 

The  battle  of  Barrosa,  fought  on  March  5,  1811,  was 
certainly  an  unfortunate  day  for  General  Whittingham ; 


122  MEMOIR   OF  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

but  few  officers  who  have  seen  much  service  have  wholly 
escaped  such  days.  Even  the  great  hero  of  the  age  had 
had  his  Seringapatam  and  his  retreat  from  Burgos.  The 
hero  of  Barrosa,  Graham,  also,  was  not  always,  though 
very  generally  fortunate ;  but  that  excellent  officer  never 
himself  attributed  any  blame  to  General  Whittingham, 
much  as  he  found  fault  with  the  Commander-in-Chief,  La 
Pena. 

The  reader  must  be  reminded,  that  to  this  day  the 
battle  of  Barrosa  is  a  difficult  and  complex  question  to 
all  who  take  the  trouble  impartially  to  study  its  details 
in  the  works  of  the  various  historians  who  have  under- 
taken to  describe  them.  Putting  the  Spaniards  aside,  do 
Frenchmen  and  Englishmen  agree  ?  Is  Napier  corrobo- 
rated by  Marshal  Victor's  dispatch,  or  by  Thiers's  history 
of  the  French  empire  ?  But,  what  is  still  more  important, 
do  the  English  themselves  agree  together.^  Is  not  the 
account  of  the  patient  and  pains-taking  civilian,  Sputhey, 
diametrically  opposed  to  that  of  his  impetuous  military 
rival?  If  few  persons  of  judgment  will  deny  that  the 
work  of  the  military  historian  is  a  far  more  brilliant  pro- 
duction than  that  of  the  civilian ;  yet  on  the  other  hand 
few  will  maintain  that  Napier  was  as  impartial  or  as 
desirous  to  do  justice  to  all  parties  and  to  all  nations  as 
was  the  historian  Southey.  The  latter  neither  felt  per- 
sonal hatred  against  the  Spaniards,  nor  could  be  jealous 
of  those  military  agents  attached  to  the  Spaniards,  who 
obtained  higher,  but  temporary  and  local  rank.  This 
temporary  rank  they  obtained  in  return  for  the  sacrifice 
of  serving  with  wretched  and  undisciplined  troops,  instead 
of  fighting  by  the  side  of  those  British  soldiers  who  so 
often,  by  their  valour  and  stubbornness,  more  than  make 
up  for  the  ignorance  and  incompetency  of  their  leaders. 

General  Graham  won  the  battle  of  Barrosa  by  suddenly 
taking  the  command,  and  setting  aside  the  Spanish  Com- 
mander-in-Chief under  whom  he  had  himself  a^eed  to 


GRAHAM'S   ASSUMPTION   OF   COMMAND.  123 

serve.  The  partial  success — as  to  results  at  all  events — 
that  followed  the  battle,  and  the  prestige  of  a  victory 
(then  much  wanted,  after  the  retreat  of  the  army  to 
Portugal),  caused  the  military  insubordination  of  Graham 
to  be  converted  into  a  patriotic  virtue.  But  General 
Whittingham  was  on  that  day  in  a  different  position  from 
that  of  Graham,  who  was  only  temporarily  under  La 
Pena's  command,  and  that  by  his  own  desire.  Whitting- 
ham was  under  the  immediate  orders  of  La  Peiia  as  a 
Spanish  general  officer,  and  he  was  also  acting  as  a  British 
military  agent,  whose  business  it  was  to  keep  on  good 
terms  with  the  Spanish  Commander-in-Chief.  By  every 
principle  of  duty  and  policy,  and  conscience,  therefore, 
he  was  bound  to  obey  La  Peiia,  as  his  own  Commander, 
as  well  as  the  Commander  of  the  allied  armies.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  had  every  reason  to  love  and  respect 
Graham,  who  had  lately  recommended  him  for  promotion, 
and  praised  his  military  talents  in  a  most  flattering  letter. 

General  Whittingham  ever  maintained  that  he  was, 
and  very  naturally  so,  most  anxious  to  be  allowed,  and 
had  requested  in  the  first  instance,  to  join  himself  to, 
Graham's  division ;  but  he  was  refused.  But  what  im- 
partial person  could  blame  La  Peiia  for  not  consenting  to 
deprive  himself  of  the  immediate  aid  of  those  400  Spanish 
horsemen,  who  had  been  trained  to  unusual  excellence  of 
drill  and  disciphne,  by  the  voluntary  confession  of  Graham 
himself? 

Certainly,  it  was  most  unfortunate,  that  the  chief  com- 
mand had  not  originally  been  invested  in  General 
Graham.  But  La  Peiia  was  the  senior,  and  would  not 
waive  his  rights ;  for  it  had  been  agreed  between  Lord 
Wellington  and  the  Spanish  Government  that  when 
English  and  Spanish  forces  were  united,  the  senior  officer 
of  either  nation  should  command  the  whole  army. 

From  the  false  statements  of  the  French  Marshal 
Victor   (as  narrated  by  Southey)  that  the  English  had 


124  MEMOIE   OP   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

purposely  exposed  the  Spaniards  to  the  first  attack,  it 
does  not  necessarily  follow  that  the  first  demonstration 
of  the  French  was  not  directed  at  La  Peiia's  advanced 
guard.  Victor  may  have  been  right  in  his  facts,  though 
wTong  as  to  the  motives  he  suggested. 

General  Graham  imputed  no  blame  to  '  General 
Whittingham,'  whom  he  in  his  dispatch  correctly  names  by 
his  Spanish  rank  ;  and  who,  whilst  reserving  for  La  Pena 
the  official  report  of  his  proceedings  as  commander  of  the 
Spanish  advanced  guard,  appears  to  have  communicated 
verbally  to  Graham  after  the  action  the  reason  why  he 
had  been  prevented  joining  him  in  time  with  his  cavalry. 
Li  his  dispatch  to  Lord  Wellington,  General  Graham 
writes  :  '  I  understand,  too,  from  General  Whittingham, 
that  with  three  squadrons  of  cavalry,  he  kept  in  check  a 
corps  of  infantry  and  cavalry  that  attempted  to  turn  the 
Barrosa  height  by  the  sea.  One  squadron  of  the  2nd 
Hussars,  King's  German  Legion,  under  Captain  Busche, 
and  directed  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Ponsonby  (both  had 
been  attached  to  the  Spanish  cavalry),  joined  in  time  to 
make  a  briUiant  and  most  successful  charge  against  a 
squadron  of  French  dragoons,  which  were  entirely  routed.' 

Unfortunately,  General  Whittingham,  not  being  under 
General  Graham's  orders,  did  not  send  him  a  copy  of  his 
dispatch  to  General  La  Pena.  If  he  had  done  so,  Graham 
would  have  seen  that  the  Spanish  advanced  guard,  which 
checked  the  threatened  attack  of  the  French  on  the  right, 
consisted  of  infantry  as  ivell  as  cavalry,  and  that 
General  Whittingham  was  not  that  day  a  simple  com- 
mander of  cavalry.  To  explain  to  General  Graham 
why  the  Spanish  cavalry  had  not  joined  him,  was 
of  course  the  only  object  of  General  Whittingham 's 
communication  to  that  officer.  It  was  to  his  own 
General,  the  Commander-in-Chief,  that  he  had  to  send 
the  full  details  of  his  proceedings.  This  report  he  wrote 
in  Spanish  with  the  usual  forms  employed  by  Spanish 


HIS   OFFICUL   REPOET   TO   THE   COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.    125 

officers.  Of  this  document  he,  fortunately  (the  day  after 
writing  it),  sent  a  copy  in  the  original  language  to  his 
beloved  brother-in-law,  who  was  himself  a  good  Spanish 
scholar.  Finally,  this  document  only  a  few  months  back 
(with  the  rest  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham's  long  packed- 
away  papers),  reached  the  Editor's  hands.  It  had  never 
been  seen  by  Sir  Samford  since  March  8th,  1811,  when 
he  dispatched  it  to  his  brother-in-law,  and  consequently, 
when  twenty-two  years  later  he  found  hhiiself,  whilst  in 
India,  unexpectedly  attacked  in  Napier's  history,  he  had 
only  his  memory  to  rely  on  for  his  defence.  That 
memory,  ordinarily  good,  the  inscrutable  wisdom  of  pro- 
vidence permitted  on  this  occasion  to  be  materially,  to 
his  own  great  discomfiture,  defective  ;  the  sad  conse- 
quence of  which  was  that  the  injured  veteran  was  deprived 
of  his  invulnerable  arms — like  Patrocles  in  his  combat 
with  Hector.  The  box  of  papers,  left  at  the  bottom  of 
a  cellar  in  the  public  offices  of  London,  was  not  avail- 
able to  refresh  the  memory  of  the  veteran  wearing  away 
his  life  in  a  tropical  climate,  in  the  unceasing  service  of 
his  country ! 

The  following  is  a  translation  of  Major-General  Whit- 
tinghains  Official  Report  to  the  Commander-in-Chief 
La  Pena,  of  his  share  in  the  battle  of  Barrosa  :* — 

'  Excellency, — At  two  o'clock  p.m.  of  the  5th  instant 
I  received  orders  from  your  Excellency  to  take  post,  with 
three  squadrons,  and  two  troops  of  cavalry,  and  1,350 
infantry, f  commanded  by  Brigadier  Don  Antonia  Begines 
de  los  Eios,  at  the  camp  of  the  Cerro  del  Puerco.  Con- 
sequently, I  was  proceeding  to  take  up  my  position  by 
joining  the  infantry,  when  Colonel  Don  Louis  Michelena 

*  Vide  Appendix  A  for  the  original  Spanish  copy  of  the  Report,  as  sent 
to  Mr.  Davis. 

t  The  Editor  has  placed  in  italics  those  portions  of  the  Report  to  which 
he  desires  to  draw  the  special  attention  of  the  reader. 


126  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

informed  me  that  troops  were  in  sight,  which  appeared 
to  be  enemies,  by  their  marching  towards  us.  I  hastened 
the  junction  '  [_with  the  infantry']^  '  and  reconnoitred  the 
enemy,  who  marched  in  two  strong  columns  ;  having  with 
them  a  battahon  of  light  infantry,  which  formed  their 
vanguard.  The  one  marched  directly  on  my  position  ; 
the  other  extending  itself  to  its  left  for  the  purpose  of 
outflanking  us.  I  ordered  the  infantry  to  form  in  squares, 
and  placed  the  cavalry  on  the  left  in  echelon,  to  maintain 
the  position.  At  this  moment  I  received  your  Excellency's 
order  to  fall  hack  on  the  main  body  of  the  army ;  and  I 
discovered,  besides  the  two  hostile  columns  already  men- 
tioned, another  stronger  one  approaching  rapidly  on  my 
left  to  occupy  the  pine  wood,  between  my  camp  and  that 
of  the  main  army,  the  only  passage  by  which  I  could 
accomphsh  your  Excellency  s  latest  instruction  to  fall  back. 
The  enemy's  force  was  at  least  quadruple  that  which  I 
had  with  me.  I  determined,  in  conformity  with  the  said 
order^  that  the  infantry  should  commence  a  retreat 
covered  by  the  cavalry.  The  English  battalion  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Brown  opened  the  march,  followed 
by  the  Spanish  troops.  I  took  the  detachment  of  Eoyal 
carabineers,  and  one  troop  of  English  hussars*  with  me, 
to  cover  the  right  flank  of  the  line  of  march  in  the 
retreat — interposed  between  the  right  flank  and  the 
enemy — continuing  the  retreat  up  to  taking  possession  of 
the  wood,  where  I  immediately  posted  Don  Juan  de  la 
Cruz  ;  ordering  him  to  cover  the  right  flank  of  the  posi- 
tion, which' the  enemy  were  already  endeavouring  to  sur- 
round. In  compliance  with  my  orders,  Major  Busche  with 
the  English  hussars,  Lieutenant-Colonels  Don  Francisco 
Eamonet,  and  Don  Francisco  Serrano  with  a  squadron 
of  grenadiers,  and,  of  the  same  rank,  Don  Santiago  Wall 
with  two  troops  under  his  command,  and  some  guerilla 

*  These  were  liiissard  of  tlie  German  Legion,  in  the  pay  of  England. 


INDIRECTLY   BLAMES   LA   PENA.  127 

infantry,  maintained  themselves  till  the  retreat  of  the  infantry 
was  accomplished^  of  all  the  baggage  of  the  army^  and  of  the 
two  pieces  of  artillery ;  *  which  up  to  the  last  moment  of 
being  sharply  attacked,  had  maintained  unflinchingly  a 
very  well-directed  and  vigorous  fire  upon  the  enemy. 

'  The  cavalry  covered  the  retreat  perfectly  and  in  good 
order,  notwithstanding  the  continued  skirmishing,  which 
the  enemy's  cavalry  kept  up,  throughout  the  whole  of 
their  advance,  closing  their  ranks  as  they  debouched,  and 
stronger  by  one-third,  against  ours,  separated  at  that  time 
at  several  points.' 

'  At  this  moment,  I  perceived  the  corps  of  General 
Graham  issuing  out  of  the  wood,  and  moving  towards 
their  former  position  on  the  heights  now  occupied  by  the 
enemy.  It  would  be  difficult  to  give  a  just  idea  of  the 
impetuosity  with  which  the  common  enemy  was  driven 
back  from  all  the  heights  by  the  Enghsh  bayonets ;  the 
same  enemy  who  had  charged  us  with  such  insolence 
and  confidence  as  if  he  had  already  gained  the  victory. 
His  force  was  double  tliat  of  the  English  ;  but  the  victory, 
though  costly,  was  complete,  and  decided  by  the  point  of 
the  bayonet.  The  fruits  of  this  distinguished  day  would 
have  been  gathered  beyond  the  principal  object,  if  the 
enemy — who  in  their  precipitate  retreat  abandoned  their 
wounded  of  all  ranks  and  descriptions,  three  guns  and  two 
ammunition  waggons — had  been  charged  in  flank  and 
threatened  in  the  rear.f 

*  To  represent  as  a  mere  Colonel  of  a  small  body  of  horse  a  General,  who 
had  infantry,  artillery,  and  baggage  under  his  orders  as  2vell  as  cavalry,  was 
assuredly  a  wonderful  specimen  of  ignorance  in  the  popular  historian.  If, 
denying  him  the  Spanish  rank  in  which  he  was  then  employed,  the  historian 
intended  to  call  him  by  his  English  rank,  he  was  equally  wrong.  Whit- 
tingham  was  not  even  Lieutenant-Colonel,  but  only  Major,  at  the  battle  of 
Barrosa,  yet  Napier  styles  him  '  Colonel.' 

t  The  officer  who  ever  considered  obedience  as  the  first  and  last  duty 
of  a  soldier,  could,  nevertheless,  not  resist  on  this  occasion  hinting  to  the 
Commander-in-Chief  how,  instead  of  ordering  his  advanced-guard  to  retire, 
he  might  have  advanced  himself  with  the  main  body  and  completed  the 
victory. 


128  MEMOIR   OF  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  A  squadron  of  English  hussars,  which  were  under  my 
command  attacked  the  guard  of  Marshal  Victor,  routed 
and  dispersed  it.  This  squadron  of  English  hussars,  jointly 
with  the  one  already  mentioned  of  the  Spanish  grenadiers, 
under  the  command  of  Baron  Carondelet,  and  the  two 
troops  of  Don  Santiago  Wall,  covered  the  right  whig ;  and 
supported  by  the  troops  of  brigadiers  Don  Antonio 
Begines,  and  Don  Juan  de  la  Cruz,  prevented  the  enemy, 
by  their  gallant  conduct  and  manoeuvres,  from  surround- 
ing us  along  the  shore,  as  they  had  twice  attempted  to  do. 
These  two  troops  behaved  with  gallantry  ;  retiring  from 
and  advancing  upon  the  enemy,  at  the  right  moment,  as 
equally  did  the  detachment  of  the  Eoyal  carabineers.  All 
the  cavalry  in  short  brilliantly  fulfilled  their  duty. 

'  The  enemy,  after  finding  himself  repulsed  from  the 
heights,  commenced  his  retreat  in  an  orderly  manner, 
covered  by  his  cavalry.  This  was  the  moment  in  which 
I  proposed  to  myself  to  collect  together  and  act  on  the 
offensive  with  my  400  horse,  which  I  had  under  my 
orders.*  With  this  view  I  had  desired  Eamonet  and 
Serrano,  in  union  with  Wall,  to  observe  and  to  co-operate 
with  the  movements  of  the  English  hussars  and  the  Eoyal 
carabineers,  which  I  kept  with  me  ;  when,  upon  the  right 
of  the  whole  line,  there  appeared  a  column  of  infantry  of 
about  500  men,  preceded  by  a  party  of  horse,  and  moving 
as  if  to  turn  our  flank.  It  was  indispensable  to  manoeuvre 
so  as  to  keep  them  under  observation,  whilst  a  sergeant 
and  six  men  of  the  squadron  of  carabineers  reconnoitred 
them  ;  and  the  opportunity  thus  escaped  me  of  charging^ 
with  the  whole  of  my  disposable  cavalry,  the  enemy  who 
was  retiring  rapidly.     At  the  head  of  the  English  hussars 

*  This  corps,  which  he  had  himself  trained  and  organized,  to  the  admira- 
tion of  General  Graham  and  Mr.  Wellesley,  was  under  his  special  orders] 
though  as  General  (as  his  dispatch  clearly  proves)  he  on  that  day  com- 
manded, under  La  Pena,  the  whole  Spanish  advanced-guard — amounting, 
apparently,  to  about  2,500  of  all  ranks — a  small  force  against  such  an 
enemy ;  but  still  no  Colonel's  command. 


AN   EGREGIOUS   MISREPRESENTATION   OF   FACT.        129 

I  followed  them,  resolving  to  attack  a  body  of  cavalry, 
posted  at  the  side  of  a  lake,  which  covered  their  left  flank. 
But  on  my  advance,  I  discovered  that  the  whole  of  the 
enemy's  infantry  were  collected  on  their  right,  supported  by 
the  artillery,  and  covered  by  the  pine  wood ;  a  situation 
which  did  not  allow  of  a  partial  or  isolated  movement 
against  the  above  mentioned  force,  so  well  protected.  In 
this  situation,  two  pieces  of  artillery  were  placed  in  position 
by  General  Graham  which  by  a  well  directed  fire  obhged 
the  enemy  to  continue  his  retreat  between  the  lake  and 
the  pine  wood  in  the  direction  of  Chiclava. 

'  I  cannot  do  less  than  entreat  your  Excellency  to  make 
known  to  their  Serene  Highnesses,*  the  particular  merit 
evinced  in  all  circumstances,  by  the  commanders,  officers, 
and  troops  in  this  action,  wdthout  being  able  to  select  or 
individuahze  any  to  your  Excellency,  where  all  have 
emulously  and  honourably  fulfilled  their  duty,  on  this 
happy  occasion  thus  offered  to  them,  of  showing  them- 
selves to  the  nation  as  its  defenders. 

'  God  preserve  your  Excellency. 

^  His  Excellency  [Maj  or-General]  Senor  Don  Santiago 
Whittingham,  to   his    Excellency  [Lieutenant-Ge- 
neral]  Senor  Don  Manuel  de  la  Pena,  General-in- 
Chief. 
*  Camp  of  Cerro  del  Puerco,  7th  March,  1811.' 

This  dispatch  demonstrates  that  notwithstanding  La 
Pena's  orders  to  retire,  it  ^\^as  simply  an  accident  over 
which  he  had  no  control,  that  delayed  the  advance  of 
General  Whittingham,  after  the  successful  charge  of  the 
British  under  General  Graham. 

That  some  of  these  details,  as  well  as  those  regarding 
his  rank  and  position,  should  have  escaped  his  recollec- 
tion after  about  a  quarter  of  a  century  had  elapsed — a 
period  passed  in  nearly  ceaseless  laborious  duties  and 
occupations — is  less  extraordinary  than  that  an  historian 

*  The  Regency  of  Spain. 
K 


130  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM, 

sitting  at  home  at  ease  should  have  made  so  many  mis- 
takes, and  egregiously  misrepresented  the  proceedings  of 
that  small  part  of  La  Peiia's  army  which  took  part  in  the 
battle  of  Barrosa. 

As  usual,  so  on  this  occasion,  General  Whittingham 
was  with  the  advanced  guard  of  the  Spanish  army.  The 
fatiguing  marches  which  the  Spaniards  had  undergone, 
may  have  palliated  the  tardiness  of  La  Pena,  who  had 
also  perhaps  a  just  right  to  complain  of  the  disobedience 
of  his  subordinate  General  Graham.  But  certainly  La 
Pena  was  not  in  sight  of  the  action  that  day,  and  inter- 
fered only  to  order  the  retreat  of  his  advanced  guard, 
on  to  the  main  body. 

It  may  be  that  Southey  is  too  severe  on  Graham,  under 
the  circumstances  ;  but  at  least  he  appears  to  have  dis- 
cussed the  question  with  studied  calmness  and  impar- 
tiality, as  well  as  with  a  fullness  of  details,  which  may 
have  exhausted  the  patience  of  some  of  his  readers.  But 
most  assuredly  if  truth  and  acciu-acy  are  the  most  impor- 
tant points  in  a  history,  in  that  respect  Southey  has  borne 
the  palm  from  his  military  rival,  even  though  it  is  pro- 
bable that  some  errors  also  exist  in  his  pains-taking 
accounts  of  Barrosa. 

The  painful  uncertainty  of  history,  of  which  many  ex- 
amples have  been  furnished  in  the  present  century,  was 
never  more  patent  than  in  the  conflicting  testimonies,  re- 
garding that  battle,  in  acting  in  which,  General  Whitting- 
ham appears  to  have  done  his  duty  under  most  trying 
circumstances.  That  he  was  indignant  with  the  Spanish 
Commander-in-Chief,  and  that  all  his  sympathies  were 
with  General  Graham,  is  proved  by  the  following  private 
letter  written  three  days  after  the  action,  more  plainly 
than  etiquette  would  admit  of  in  the  official  dispatch : — 


GENERAL   WHITTINGHAM's    LETTER   TO   MR.    DAVIS.     131 

Major-General  Whittinghain  to  his  Brother-in-law. 

^IsLA  DB  Leon,  %th  March,  1811. 

'My  dear  Davis, — The  time  is  so  short,  that  I  have 
scarcely  time  to  send  you  a  copy  of  my  report  *  to  the 
Commander-in-Chief  La  Peiia  of  the  part  I  had  in  the 
action  of  the  5th.  If  the  EngUsh  had  been  supported 
by  an  advance  movement  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  wood, 
the  siege  of  Cadiz  must  have  been  raised,  and  the  whole 
business  would  have  been  most  glorious.  As  it  is,  the 
British  army  gained  a  most  complete  victory  against  double 
the  number  of  French,  and  covered  themselves  with  im- 
mortal honour. 

'  The  loss  of  the  Enghsh  exceeds  1,200  men,  and  after 
such  a  specimen  of  Spanish  generalship,  it  is  not  to  be 
believed  that  General  Graham  will  again  engage  in  offen- 
sive operations,  unless  he  has  the  command-in-chief.  The 
Spaniards  still  keep  the  bridge  of  boats  upon  the  river, 
and  talk  of  undertaking  offensive  operations  alone.  As 
everything  relative  to  my  expedition  to  Majorca  is  settled, 
I  shall  give  up  [my  command]  here,  as  soon  as  they  may 
choose  to  take  away  the  bridge  of  Santi  Petri.  Colonel 
Macdonald  will  do  me  the  favour  to  deliver  this  letter. 
He  is  Adjutant-General  of  the  British  forces  here,  and  I 
beg  to  recommend  him  to  your  particular  attentions.  My 
best  love  to  Mrs.  Davis  and  all  the  family,  as  well  as  to 
James  [Whittingham]  and  his  family,  and  believe  me, 
'  Ever  yours  most  affectionately, 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

If  Napier  had  delayed  his  history  till  after  the  publi- 
cation of  the  '  Wellington  Dispatches '  (since  the  Duke 
refused  him  access  to  them),  he  would  probably  have  done 
more  justice  to  General  Whittingham,  of  whom  so  much 

*  He  means,  scarcely  time  to  do  more  than  send  a  copy  of  his  report, 

K  2 


132  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

honourable  mention  is  therein  made.  Above  all  he  would 
have  read  the  Duke's  all-comprehensive  testimony  to  the 
merits  and  services  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  from  the 
commencement  to  the  close  of  the  Peninsular  war.  Three 
years  after  Barrosa  the  Duke  wrote  in  favour  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  Memoir  that  he  had  '  served  most  zealously 
and  gallantly^  from  the  commencement  of  the  war  in  the 
Peninsula,  and  I  have  had  every  reason  to  be  satisfied 
with  his  conduct,  in  every  situation  in  which  he  has  been 
placed.'* 

Let  the  reader  mark  the  two  everys  employed  by  one 
who  weighed  his  words  ;  and  was  not  Barrosa  one  of  the 
situations  in  which  the  subject  of  this  Memoir  had  been 
placed  ? 

A  month  later  the  Premier,  Mr.  Perceval,  thanked  Mr. 
Davis  for  a  copy  of  General  Whittingham' s  translation  of 
Dundas's  Cavalry  Tactics,  and  expressed  the  '  most  san- 
guine hopes  of  the  benefit  the  Spanish  cause  will  derive 
from  his  being  entrusted  with  the  formation  of  a  consider- 
able body  of  their  army.' 

But  the  following  letter  must  have  given  General 
Whittingham  greater  pleasure  than  all  the  other  acknow- 
ledgements he  received  of  the  copies  of  his  military 
Spanish  publication : — 

H.R.H.  the  Duke  of  Kent  to  R.  H.  Davis,  Esq.  M.P. 

^  Kensington  Palace^  IQth  April,  1811. 
'  The  Duke  of  Kent  does  himself  the  honoiu*  of  ac- 
knowledging Mr.  Hart  Davis's  polite  note  of  yesterday, 
enclosing  a  copy  of  General  Whittingham's  translation  of 
Dundas's  Cavalry  Tactics  into  Spanish  ;  and  the  Duke 
begs  to  assure  Mr.  Davis  that  he  values  most  highly  the 
General's  attention,  as  well  as  the  very  handsome  manner 
in  which  Mr.  Davis  has  become  the  instrument  of  impart- 
ing it. 

*  This  letter  will  appear  in  its  proper  place. 


THE    DUKE    OF    KENT'S    TKIBUTE    TO    HIS    MERITS.        133 

'  The  Duke  cannot  resist,  upon  this  opportunity,  payiyig 
what  he  considers  a  just  tribute  to  the  mernts  of  General 
Whittingham,  by  observing  that  he  views  him  as  a  high 
ornament  to  the  British  service,  and  a  most  efficient  aid  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  Spanish  cause* 

'Hart  Davis,  Esq.' 

At  this  time,  as  the  '  Wellington  Dispatches '  testify, 
General  Castaiios,  who  had  been  appointed  a  member  of 
the  Eegency,  as  well  as  Commander-in-chief,  was  fast 
gaining  the  confidence  and  friendship  of  Lord  Wellington, 
to  the  great  delight  of  his  former  aide-de-camp,  who  was 
now  starting  to  undertake  the  very  difficult  task  of  raising 
and  organizing  a  large  Spanish  division,  with  at  first  one 
only  other  British  officer  to  assist  him,  and  to  the  very 
last  obtaining  little  aid  from  any  but  Spanish  officers 
trained  by  himself. 

*  The  Editor  deems  such  spontaneous  praise  from  the  excellent  father  of 
Her  gracious  Majesty,  worthy  of  being  placed  in  italics. 


134  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

18 11 — cotitimied. 

GENEEAL  WHITTINGHAM's  ARDTTOUS  TASK  AT  MAJOECA  —  FII^ANCIAL 
DUTIES — A  PUNCTILIOUS  GOYEENOE — LANDS  AT  PALMA — FEENCH  AND 
GEEMAN   PEISONEES — GENEEAL   DON    GEEGOEIO   CUESTA  AGAIN — LETTEE 

TO    COLONEL   TOEEENS — LETTEE    TO     EIGHT   HON.    HENEY   WELLESLEY 

TEEATISE  ON  MAJOECA — LETTEE  TO  HON.  CAPTAIN  BLACKWOOD,  E.N. — 
LETTEE  TO  ADMIEAL  PELLEW — COLONEL  TOEEENS'S  OPINION  OF  WHIT- 
TINGHAM— LETTEE  TO  COLONEL  TOEEENS  —  PEOMOTION  TO  LIEUT.- 
COLONEL  IN  BEITISH  AEMY — LETTEE  TO  ME.  DAVIS — CAPTAIN  BEIAELY's 
MISSION  TO  CADIZ — OFFICIAL  DELAYS  — GENEEAL  WHITTINGHAM  DESIEED 
AS  GOVEENOE — SOLICITATIONS  FEOM  ENGLISHMEN — SPANISH  JEALOUSIES 
AND  INTEIGUES — A  NEAELY  EXHAUSTED  PATIENCE — GENEEAL  CUESTA's 
ENMITY  AND   INSULTS — GENEEAL   CUESTA's   DEATH. 

The  arduous  task  undertaken  by  General  Whittingham — 
to  raise,  organize,  pay,  clothe,  feed,  drill,  and  instruct  a 
large  division  of  Spanish  troops  in  Majorca,  is  now  partly 
represented  by  a  large  manuscript  folio  volume,  contain- 
ing the  written  copies  of  the  correspondence  which  such 
an  Herculean  task  necessarily  occasioned.  The  word 
partly  is  used  advisedly,  as  much  of  his  personal  active 
military  exertions  were  never  represented  on  paper.  His 
financial  duties  especially  weighed  on  his  mind;  no 
English  paymaster  having  been  appointed  to  assist  him, 
whilst  in  the  Spanish  paymasters  he  could  not  feel  com- 
plete confidence.  Colonel  Patrick  Campbell,  indeed,  of 
the  Majorca  division,  acted  voluntarily  as  his  deputy  pay- 
master ;  but  the  entire  responsibility  rested  with  himself, 
and  became  the  greatest,  as  it  was  the  most  unjustifiable, 
of  the  burdens  he  had  to  bear  in  the  island. 

The  chief  advantage  of  having  a  deputy  arose  from  the 


A   PUNCTILIOUS   GOVERNOR.  135 

fact  that  the  actual  money  did  not  pass  through  the 
General's  hands,  though  disbursed  by  his  orders  ;  and  this 
arrangement,  without  lessening  the  legal,  of  course  dimi- 
nished his  moral  responsibility ;  which  rested  chiefly  with 
Colonel  Campbell,  who  had  charge  of  the  monies. 

It  is  of  course  but  a  small  fraction  of  his  voluminous 
Majorcan  correspondence,  that  will  now  be  laid  before  the 
reader ;  but  sufficient  to  show  the  nature  and  extent  of 
his  task. 

The  Right  Hon.  Henry  Wellesley  to  Major-General 
Whittingham. 

^  Cadiz,  Sth  June,  1811. 

'  Sir, — Upon  your  arrival  at  Gibraltar,  you  are  to  con- 
sider this  letter  as  sufficient  authority  for  you  to  draw 
from  that  place,  on  His  Majesty's  Treaauryin  London,  for 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

'  I  am,  with  much  respect.  Sir,  your  most  obedient  and 
humble  servant, 

'  Henry  Wellesley.' 

On  June  13th,  1811,  General  Whittingham  landed  at 
Gibraltar.  When  three  years  earlier  he  had  first  landed 
on  the  rock,  as  Captain  Whittingham,  kind  and  cour- 
teously had  he  been  received  by  Sir  Hew  ])alrymple. 
This  time  it  was  different.  The  pompous  Governor  was 
difficult  of  access,  and  the  new  arrival  was  anxious  to 
arrange  without  loss  of  time,  the  cashing  of  his  Treasury 
order,  and  to  proceed  on  his  mission  to  Majorca.  He, 
therefore,  armed  with  the  above-mentioned  authority,  pro- 
ceeded to  negotiate  Avith  the  merchants  of  Gibraltar ;  Mr. 
Wellesley  not  having  authorised  him  to  consult  anyone 
whatever,  and  having  limited  his  powers  as  to  rate  of  ex- 
change, so  that  the  utmost  secresy  was  necessary,  in  order 
to   raise   the  money  on  the  required  terms.      But  the 


136  MEMOIR   OF  SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

Governor  discovering  the  negotiations,  and  more  mindful 
of  his  own  dignity  than  of  the  efficiency  of  the  public 
service,  flew  into  a  violent  passion,  and  commencing  a 
most  harsh  correspondence  with  the  unintentional  offender, 
ended  by  ordering  him  to  proceed  '  on  his  mission  with 
the  least  possible  delay.'  The  matter  was  reported  on 
both  sides  to  their  respective  superiors,  and  entailed 
plenty  of  correspondence  ;  but  apparently  the  various  de- 
partments concerned  never  came  to  any  positive  under- 
standing on  the  matter.  At  all  events  it  does  not  appear 
that  it  was  ever  satisfactorily  settled.  General  Whitting- 
ham,  however,  effected  his  business  in  a  few  days.  Before 
leaving  Gibraltar  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Wellesley  and  to  Mar- 
quis Wellesley  ;  to  the  former,  a  justification  of  his  con- 
duct, as  his  official  superior,  to  the  latter  an  account  of 
the  affair  as  to  his  friend  and  protector,  and  to  his  brother- 
in-law  he  of  course  explained  everything.  Assuredly  this 
dispute  was  forced  upon  him,  without  any  fault  of  his 
own  ;  as  he  was  denied  all  opportunity  for  amicable  ex- 
planation. The  details  of  his  financial  proceedings  at 
Gibraltar  are  recorded  w^ith  the  accuracy  of  a  counting- 
house.  He  succeeded  so  well  that  Government  made  a 
better  bargain  than  could  have  been  made  at  Cadiz,  all 
which  he  explained  to  Mr.  Wellesley  for  the  information 
of  the  Treasury. 

On  the  28th  June,  he  landed  at  Palma  in  Majorca, 
where  he  immediately  hired  a  house  for  his  stores,  and 
commenced  disembarking  the  clothing  and  arms  which 
had  arrived  for  the  use  of  the  army  of  reserve  about  to 
be  raised  in  the  island ;  of  all  which  proceedings  Mr. 
Wellesley  and  Admiral  Sir  Charles  Cotton  were  duly  in- 
formed in  clear  and  ample  details.  Long  letters  follow 
on  the  statistical  state  of  the  island  and  of  its  intricate 
politics,  and  regarding  the  French  leanings  of  some  of  the 
inhabitants. 

A  serious  danger  was  the  number  of  French  prisoners 


FRENCH   AND   GERMAN   PRISONERS.  137 

in  the  Balearic  Islands,  whom,  especially  the  officers,  it 
was  difficult  to  keep  from  intriguing  with  the  inhabitants, 
on  whose  loyalty  the  retreat  of  Lord  Wellington  to  Portugal 
had  had  a  bad  effect.  Many  of  the  first  families  in  Majorca 
were  more  than  suspected  of  conspiring  with  the  French 
officers  on  parole  with  a  view  to  a  revolution  in  the  inte- 
rest of  Napoleon.  In  communicating  these  and  other  facts 
to  Admiral  Sir  Edward  Pellew,  Bart.,*  on  the  14th  July, 
1811,  General  Whittingham  adds,  amongst  his  postscripts, 
this  curious  sentence  :  '  I  should  think  it  would  be  highly 
^dvisable  to  remove  the  French  officers,  at  least,  from  this 
pis^ce  to  Mahon  for  the  present,  and  that  without  losing  a 
moii:ent's  time.  My  information  comes  from  the  Church, 
through  means  which  they  alone  possess,  and  therefore  can- 
not be  doubted.' 

Amongst  the  prisoners  were  some  Germans,  who  had 
only  reluctantly  served  with  the  French,  and  these  after 
some  correspondence,  General  Whittingham  w^as  allowed 
to  enlist  into  his  Majorca  division  ;  and  they  were  found 
to  be  a  valuable  acquisition. 

On  the  13th  July  he  reported  his  arrival  and  proceed- 
ings to  Marquis  Wellesley,  who  it  appears  had  used  his 
influence  with  Ministers  in  England  to  cause  the  adoption 
of  General  Whittingham's  plans  of  raising  troops  in 
Majorca.  With  the  Spanish  authorities  he  corresponded 
in  their  own  language,  as  his  Majorca  letter-book  testifies. 

But  of  all  his  worries  and  misfortunes  in  Majorca  (and 
their  name  was  legion)  the  greatest  was  undoubtedly  the 
fact  that  Don  Gregorio  Cuesta  (the  man  whose  stupid 
obstinacy,  dislike  of  the  English,  and  utter  incompetency. 
General  Whittingham  had  exposed  and  denounced  to 
Mr.  Hookham  Frere,  before  the  arrival  in  Spain  of  Sir 
Arthur  Wellesley)  was  at  this  time,  Captain-General  of 
the  Balearic   Islands,   with  full  and  unlimited  powers! 

*  Afterwards  the  celebrated  Viscount  Exraouth. 


138  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

Now  that  lie  could  no  longer  worry  the  hero  of  the  age 
he  vented  his  malice  on  the  British  officer  now  serving  as 
a  Major-General  in  the  province  he  commanded  as  Cap- 
tain-General. It  is  very  probable,  also,  that  he  was  not 
wholly  unaware  of  how  the  friend  of  Alburquerque  had 
formerly  thought,  spoken,  and  written  of  Cuesta's  jealousies 
and  incapacity,  and  that  he  was  glad  of  an  opportunity  of 
revenging  himself.     But  of  Cuesta  more  hereafter. 


Major-General  Whittingham  to  Colonel  Torrens.^ 

'Palm A,  Uh  July,  1811. 

'  My  dear  Torrens, — I  hasten  to  inform  you  of  my 
arrival  here,  and  to  assure  you  that  I  shall  lose  no  oppor- 
tunity of  giving  you  an  exact  account  of  everything  that 
occurs,  and  particularly  relative  to  this  army  of  reserve. 
In  the  meantime  I  must  inform  you  that  your  friend. 
Captain  Clarke,  having  gone  as  a  volunteer  with  General 
Blake  to  Estremadura,  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  take 
him  with  me  when  I  left  Cadiz  ;  but  I  sent  him  a  message 
by  Lord  William  Eussell,f  desiring  him  to  join  me  as  soon 
as  possible,  and  offering  him  a  troop)  of  Hussars.     .     .     . 

'  The  unfortunate  loss  of  Tarragona  has  deprived  me  of 
200  Catalans,  who  were  upon  the  point  of  being  sent  here; 
but  the  number  will  be  easily  made  up  in  Valencia  and 
Murcia.  I  am  extremely  anxious  to  organize  a  few 
battalions,  as  the  force  at  present  on  the  island  is  so  very 
small  that  we  cannot  by  any  means  be  considered  in  a 
state  of  security.  We  have  in  the  island  of  Cabrera,  4,000 
prisoners ;  a  considerable  part  of  them  Germans  from 
Westphalia  and  Hesse  Cassel,  and  consequently  good 
soldiers,  and  not  attached  to  French  principles.     If  I  had 

*  Military  Secretary  to  H.R.H.  the  Duke  of  York^  afterwards  Sir  Henry 
Torrens,  who  died  as  Adjutant-General  at  the  Horse-Guards  in  1828. 

t  Elder  brother  of  Earl  Russell,  afterwards  Major-General,  and  in  1836 
Envoy  at  Berlin. 


LETTER    TO    MR.    WELLESLEY.  139 

the  power  of  selecting,  I  could  get  some  excellent  recruits. 
There  are  also  eighty  officers  prisoners,  belonging  to  these 
men  in  this  island,  and  it  certainly  would  be  very  much 
for  the  good  of  the  service  that  they  should  be  removed 
elsewhere  without  loss  of  time,  as  they  are  daily  forming 
to  themselves  an  interest  with  the  inhabitants. 
'  I  remain,  &c., 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

Major-General  Whittingham  to  the  Right  Eon.  Henry 
Wellesley. 

(Extract.) 

*  Palma,  1st  August,  1811. 

'  I  have  the  honour  to  enclose  a  copy  of  my  letter  of 
this  day's  date  to  Mr.  Bardaxi,"*  bemg  also  a  copy  of  that 
which  I  have  written  to  the  Minister  of  War,  relative  to 
certain  points  of  service,  which  if  they  are  not  finally  and 
satisfactorily  settled,  must  lead  to  the  most  unpleasant 
disputes  between  myself  and  General  Cuesta.  You  will 
have  the  goodness  to  observe  that  I  rest  my  argument 
upon  the  Spanish  ordenanza^  which  provide,  that  whenever 
a  reunion  of  troops  be  ordered  in  any  province  of  the 
monarchy,  and  a  General  appointed  to  command  them, 
all  military  command  of  these  troops  is  vested  in  him,  and 
the  Captain-General  of  the  province  has  only  to  direct  with 
regard  to  the  civil  jurisdiction,  destination  of  quarters,  &c. 

'  I  have  already  experienced  a  sufficient  degree  of  oppo- 
sition from  General  Cuesta  to  alarm  me  at  least  for  the 
future ;  and  I  am,  therefore,  extremely  anxious,  that  by  a 
complete  and  total  separation  of  command,  every  possible 
disagreement  should  be  avoided.     .     . 

'  The  conscription  and  war  contribution  may  meet  witli 

*  A  member  of  the  Junta,  well-disposed  to  the  English.  The  enclosures 
are  all  in  Spanish,  in  which  language  he  carried  on  his  correspondence  with 
all  the  Spanish  authorities  ever  since  his  arrival  in  the  country,  as  he  wrote 
and  spoke  it  as  fluently  as  English. 


140  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

those  obstacles  which  originate  in  intrigue  ;  but  I  am 
satisfied  that  they  may,  as  far  as  concerns  the  people,  be 
carried  into  effect  without  difficulty  or  danger. 

'I  beg  to  call  your  attention  in  the  most  earnest  man- 
ner to  the  settling  of  the  points  of  service  mentioned  in 
the  enclosed  letter ;  as  I  am  convinced  that  there  can  be 
no  other  way  of  avoiding  disputes  which  must  inevitably 

in  the  end  ruin  the  plan  altogether.' 

To  prove  what  difficulties  General  Whittingham 
had  to  contend  with  in  his  dealings  with  General  Cuesta, 
Lord  Wellington's  remark  to  Mr.  Wellesley  in  his  dispatch 
of  the  29th  August,  1811,  is  worthy  of  record  ;  viz.  '  I  am 
quite  convinced  that  the  majority  of  the  officers  of  the 
Spanish  army  would  prefer  submitting  to  the  French,  to 
allowing  us  to  have  anything  to  say  to  their  troops.'* 

On  the  23rd  August,  1811,  General  Whittingham  dis- 
patched a  letter,  containing  four  foolscap  pages,  to  Mr. 
Wellesley ;  sending  on  the  same  day  a  similar  letter  to 
Marquis  Wellesley  in  London,  and  a  copy  besides  to  his 
brother-in-law.  It  was  a  brief  treatise  on  the  Island  of 
Majorca,  under  three  distinct  points  of  view.  First^  as  to 
its  intrinsic  value.  Secondly^  as  to  the  security  it  affords 
Port  Mahon.  Thirdly^  as  to  the  best  means  of  deriving 
from  it  every  advantage,  with  the  least  possible  expense. 
At  that  time,  as  we  have  seen,  Lord  Wellington  attached 
great  importance  to  the  possession  of  the  Balearic  Islands. 
But  the  interest  of  this  subject  having  wholly  passed  away, 
it  is  unnecessary  to  make  any  extracts  from  this  docu- 
ment. 

On  the  20th  September,  in  a  friendly  letter  to  the  naval 
officer  then  at  Palma,  the  Honourable  Captain  Blackwood, 
he  rejoices  at  the  departure  of  the  French  prisoners,  whose 
presence  and  machinations  had  given  him  so  much  trouble ; 
adding,  '  The  friends  of  the  good  cause  hold  up  their  heads 

*    Wellington  Dispatches,  vol.  viii.  p.  244. 


COMMISSARIAT   ARRANGEMENTS.  141 

and  begin  to  fancy  themselves  out  of  danger  ;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  French  party  are  become  circumspect 
and  silent.'  After  alluding  to  some  consular  intrigues,  he 
adds  :  '  I  am  sorry  to  inform  you  that  the  Captain-General 
[Cuesta]  has  taken  possession,  for  his  own  riding,  of  the 
horse  which  I  intended  for  you.  I  am  not  surprised, 
though  the  enemy  was,  at  your  having  taken  up  an 
anchorage  at  Hare's  Bay.  Sir  Edward  [PellewJ's  cha- 
racter is  too  well  known  to  allow  of  a  supposition  that  he 
would  leave  anything  undone  which  could  be  done.'  .  .  . 

On  the  20th  September  he  writes  to  Admiral  Sir  Edward 
Pellew,  amongst  other  matters,  as  follows  :  '  I  cannot  help 
expressing  how  much  service  it  would  be  rendering  the 
division,  if  you  could  possibly  allow  the  "  Guadalope^''  or 
any  other  small  vessel,  to  go  to  Oran,  to  take  the  money 
for  the  purchase  of  the  barley,  and  to  bring  the  vessel 
loaded  with  that  grain.*  The  Junta  superior  of  this 
island  has  positively  refused  to  provide  me  either  with 
barley  or  straw.  And,  although  I  conceive  that  their 
conduct  will  not  be  sanctioned  by  the  Eegency,  yet,  as  it 
is  impossible  to  wait  in  these  cases  for  distant  decision,  I 
have  directed  a  person  of  confidence  at  Oran  to  buy,  for 
the  use  of  this  army,  7,000  fanegas  of  barley.  But  I  am 
totally  without  the  means  of  bringing  barley  here,  or  of 
sending  him  the  money  which  he  must  have  advanced  for 
the  purpose.  I  enclose  a  fresh  return  of  the  force  under 
my  command,  which  you  will  see  is  gradually  increasing.' 

It  is  quite  impossible  to  give  in  this  work  an  adequate 
idea  of  the  labours  and  difficulties  which  General  Whit- 
tingham  had  to  contend  with  in  Majorca.  Their  contem- 
plation fills  the  Editor's  mind  with  astonishment,  that  such 
a  burden  of  responsibility,  care,  labour,  and  ceaseless 
annoyance,  should  have  been  not  only  endured  with 
temper  and  patience,  but  carried  out  to  a  triumphant  con- 

*  Thus  lie  acted  as  the  commissary,  as  well  as  the  paymaster  of  the 
division  which  he  had  to  raise,  organize,  disciplifie,  instruct,  and  command. 


142  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

elusion,  by  an  almost  solitary  Englishman  in  the  midst  of 
lialf-eivilized  Spaniards. 

Colonel  Torrens,  Military  Secretary^  to  Mr.  Davis.'* 

(Extract.) 

'  Horse-Guards,  22nd  September ,  1811. 
'  My  dear  Davis, — I  return  you  the  interesting  papers 
enclosed  to  me  in  your  letter  of  the  20th  instant ;  and  I 
am  most  thankful  to  you  for  the  perusal  of  them.'  [After 
alluding  to  the  interesting  command  now  held  by  Whit- 
tingham,  he  adds],  '  He  will  have  many  difficulties  to 
encounter ;  but  I  know  no  person  so  well  calculated  to 
overcome  them.' 

On  the  1st  October,  General  Whittingham  wrote  a 
long  letter  to  Lieutenant- Colonel  Torrens,  detailing  his 
proceedings  in  the  raising  and  organization  of  his  Divi- 
sion ;  a  few  extracts  from  which  may  be  interesting  : — 

'  I  expect,  in  a  short  time,  300  horses  from  the  coast 
of  Africa.  The  requisition  in  this  island  will  give  me  at 
least  200  more ;  and  the  officer  employed  on  that  service 
in  Sardinia,  informs  me  that  he  can  purchase  for  me  on 
this  island  from  600  to  700  more,  as  soon  as  I  furnish  him 
with  the  pecuniary  means.  So  that,  as  to  mounting  my 
two  regiments  of  cavalry,  I  am  under  no  alarm,  and  you 
may  be  assured  that  they  shall  not  be  wanting  as  to  disci- 
pline. Still,  however,  there  is  always  a  shade  of  doubt 
upon  my  mind ;  inasmuch  as  they  will  be  wholly  com- 
posed of  new  levies,  and,  consequently,  at  first  they  must 
be  incapable  of  comprehending  the  full  extent  of  their 
own  powers.  Even  the  oldest  and  best  of  the  Spanish 
troops  never  fight  [by  themselves]  as  they  do  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  British.     How  much  stronger,  therefore,  must 

*  This  letter  is  written  on  the  back  of  the  docket  enclosing  the  returned 
papers. 


HIS   PEOMOTION   TO   LIEUTENANT-COLONEL.  143 

this  necessity  be,  when  the  troops  in  question  have  never 
been  under  fire  ! '  The  concluding  sentence  of  this  letter 
refers  to  a  most  gallant  Irishman,  doomed  to  an  early  but 
glorious  death.  '  If  it  be  possible,  I  should  much  v^ish 
that  Captain  O'Eeilly,  of  the  13th  Foot,  should  be  sent 
to  me  with  leave  to  serve  in  the  Spanish  army,  I  knew 
him  well  at  [High]  Wycombe,  and  he  would  be  parti- 
cularly useful  to  me  in  the  Quarter-m  aster-General's 
Department.' 

On  the  same  day  (the  1st  October)  General  Whitting- 
ham  describes  to  his  brother-in-law,  his  joy  at  the  news  of 
his  promotion  to  Lieutenant-Colonel,  which  had  evidently 
taken  place  only  in  August ;  but  was  afterwards  back- 
dated to  30th  May,  1811. 

On  the  7  th  October,  General  Whittingham  writes  to 
Mr.  Davis  a  long  letter  regarding  the  struggles  carried  on 
in  Majorca,  between  the  patriotic  party,  anxious  in  order 
to  further  the  organization  of  the  Division  of  troops,  to 
increase  General  Wliittingham's  powers,  by  causing  him 
to  be  made  Governor  of  Majorca ;  and  the  opposite  fac- 
tion, which  from  jealousy  of  the  Englishman,  and  from 
love  of  intrigue,  violently  opposed  the  project.  To  his 
brother-in-law  the  General  writes : — '  In  respect  to  the 
Government  of  Majorca,  it  is  to  me  a  matter  of  perfect 
indifference,  although  the  person  actually  holding  that 
employment  is  certainly  a  very  improper  man  [to  hold  it], 
from  his  too  well-known  attachment  to  French  principles. 
But  I  should  wish  to  be  acquainted  with  the  sentiments 
of  His  Majesty's  Ministers  on  that  head,  in  case  General 
Valdes,  who  is  now  appointed  Captain-General  of  the 
Balearic  Islands*,  instead  of  Cuesta,  should  press  the 
employment  upon  me.' 

Enclosed  in  this  letter  to  Mr.  Davis  was  a  copy  of  the 
Eeport  of  a  certain  very  intelligent  Captain  of  the  Spanish 

*  Either  this  was  a  false  report,  or  the  appointment  was  afterwards 
cancelled. 


144  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

Eoyal  Navy,  who  had  been  sent  by  General  Whittingham, 
on  a  special  mission,  to  Cadiz,  to  defend  his  interest  and 
the  good  of  the  cause,  with  Mr.  Wellesley  and  the  Spanish 
Junta.  As  a  graphic  description  of  some  of  the  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  carrying  out  the  Majorca  scheme,  and  also  as 
a  picture  of  Spanish  intrigue,  it  may  amuse  some  readers, 
and  is  therefore  inserted  here  : — 


'  Bemarhs  and  Occurrences^  in  a  Voyage  from  Majorca 
to  Cadiz  and  back^  by  A.  Briarly^  Captain  Spanish 
Navy,  1811.' 

(Extract.) 

'  General  Whittingham  observed  to  me  on  the  22nd 
July,  that  a  foul  plot  or  conspiracy  has  been  entered  into 
by  a  French  party  in  this  island,  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
it  up  to  the  French ;  and  that  they  were  in  communication 
with  the  French  officers,  [who  were]  prisoners  in  the 
Castle  of  Belver.  He  at  the  same  time  urged  the  neces- 
sity of  my  going  to  Cadiz  with  the  dispatches ;  as  the 
Junta  had  applied  to  him  for  an  officer  of  confidence. 
He  also  observed  that  there  were  many  things  of  great 
consequence,  necessary  for  the  use  of  his  Division,  which 
I  could  at  the  same  time  apply  for.  I  consented  to  go  ; 
but  there  was  no  vessel  of  any  kind  except  a  schooner 
of  eight  guns,  which  had  been  taken  [whilst]  smuggling  a 
cargo  of  tobacco.  This  vessel  lay  empty  at  the  Quay ;  and 
was  ofiered  to  me,  provided  that  I  would  man  and  victual 
her  ;  as  they  were  not  able.  This  I  consented  to  do ; 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  27th  July  I  sailed  from  Palma 
with  thirty-six  seamen  on  board. 

'  I  arrived  at  Cadiz,  on  the  7th  August,  and  imme- 
diately waited  upon  the  Eegency  with  my  dispatches  ; 
next  upon  the  Secretary  of  War,  Heredia ;  and,  finally 
upon  the  British  Minister,  Mr.  Wellesley,  who  promised 
me  that  he  would  do  everything  in  his  power  to  have  me 


CAPTAIN   BRIARLY'S   MISSION   TO   CADIZ.  145 

dispatclied  as  soon  as  possible ;  and  that  he  v/ould  see 
about  having  the  prisoners  removed  from  Cabrera,  and, 
at  all  events,  the  officers  from  the  island  of  Majorca 
immediately. 

'  The  Secretary  of  State  [for  War]  assured  me  that  he 
would  do  everything  in  his  power  for  the  safety  of  the 
island  ;  and  that  all  General  Whittingham's  wants  should 
be  paid  attention  to  immediately.  At  the  end  of  the  first 
week,  however,  I  found  that  the  only  thing  done  to 
forward  me  was  the  taking  the  schooner  from  me,  in  con- 
sequence of  a  requisition  made  by  the  British  Admiral 
and  [the  British]  Minister. 

'  I  found  that  the  promises,  which  I  had  obtained  from 
every  part  of  the  Government,  were  nothing  more  than 
words  of  course.  For  at  the  end  of  August,  although  I 
had  not  missed  a  single  day  without  paying  a  visit  to 
every  one  of  the  Ministers  upon  the  subject  of  my 
dispatches,  I  was  just  where  I  started.  The  Bishop  of 
Majorca,  Llaneres,  and  the  two  deputies  in  the  Cortes  for 
the  island,  exerted  themselves  as  much  as  possible  also, 
and  were  it  not  for  their  interference  nothing  would  have 
been  accomplished. 

'  Mr.  Wellesley  observed  to  me,  that  General  Whitting- 
ham  must  not  purchase  provisions  of  any  kind  with  the 
money  given  to  him  ;  as  when  that  should  be  expended 
he  would  not  give  him  any  more.  He  also  desired  me 
to  tell  General  Whittingham,  that  he  was  not  to  interfere, 
in  any  way  whatever,  with  the  Government  of  the  island, 
nor  in  any  of  their  political  discussions ;  that  he  was 
solely  to  organize  his  division  ;  and  not  to  have  anything, 
directly  or  indirectly,  to  do  with  anything  that  did  not 
concern  it.  This  last  observation  was  stated,  no  doubt,  in 
consequence  of  the  dispatches  of  the  Cortes  for  the 
island  having  insisted  on  both  the  Captain-General  [of  the 
Balearic  Islands],  and  the  Governor  of  Palma  being  re- 

L 


146  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGIIAM. 

moved  ;  and  the  Bisliop  of  Majorca  and  the  others* 
wishing  to  put  in  Admiral  Valdes  as  Captain-General ; 
and  I  am  sure  that  it  was,  and  is  their  intention  still,  to 
have  General  Whittingham  appointed  Governor  of 
Palma.f  And  there  can  be  little  doubt  of  their  succeed- 
ing in  their  wishes,  when  they  have  got  Valdes  appointed 
Captain-General.  J 

'  On  the  2nd  September  I  called  upon  the  British  Vice 
Consul,  Mr.  Archdeacon,  to  inquire  if  any  of  the  trans- 
ports loaded  with  clothing  for  General  Whittingham  had 
[arrived],  or  were  likely  to  arrive.  On  looking  over  his 
books  he  told  me,  that  there  was  a  transport  the 
"  Wellington^''  loaded  with  clothing  for  the  General, 
which  had  arrived  and  been  in  Cadiz  for  two  months  :  and 
that  Mr.  Wellesley  had  been  informed  of  it  on  that 
vessel's  arrival.  I  went  and  told  Mr.  Wellesley,  and  he 
observed  that  I  might  take  her  up  to  Majorca  if  I  would 
get  a  convoy  for  her.  I  applied  to  the  agent  of  transports, 
who  wrote  to  the  Admiral,  he  being  out  cruising  off  the 
Gulf  of  Gibraltar  ;  and  finally  on  the  10th  [September]  a 
convoy  was  appointed.'  Captain  Briarly  arrived  in  Palma 
with  his  supplies  on  the  28th  September,  to  the  great  joy 
of  his  General,  as  may  be  well  supposed. 

General  Whittingham  was  often  apphed  to  by  half-pay 
British  officers,  and  even  by  civilians,  who  wanted  com- 
missions in  some  regiment  of  his  division.  Some  of  them 
came  out  strongly  recommended.  But  as  he  had  only  a 
few  posts  reserved  for  Englishmen  (for  fear  of  giving 
great  and  impolitic  offence  to  the  Spaniards),  so  he  was 
generally  compelled  to  decline  such  applications  ;  and 
thus  unintentionally  to  multiply  his  enemies,  and  to  aug- 

*  The  two  deputies  from  Majorca. 

t  He  means  of  Majorca,  of  which  Palma  is  the  capital. 

X  Valdes  never  was  appointed  Captain-General,  and  so  the  well-meant 
scheme  of  the  good  Bishop  and  of  the  patriotic  island  deputies  to  increase 
the  powers  of  the  English  General,  and  thereby  facilitate  the  formation  of 
the  division,  was  frustrated. 


A   NEARLY   EXHAUSTED    PATIENCE.  147 

ment  the  feelings  of  jealousy  to  wliich  his  high  position  in 
the  Spanish  army  often  exposed  him.  But  he  kept  his 
temper,  and  continued  with  patient  perseverance  to  fulfil 
his  onerous  duties  to  the  best  of  his  power  and  judgment. 

On  the  29th  of  October,  1811,  Greneral  Whittingham 
pointed  out  to  Mr.  Wellesley  in  a  long  dispatch  the 
breach  of  faith  on  the  part  of  the  Junta,  and  especially 
of  the  war  minister,  in  regard  to  the  stipulations  origi- 
nally made  as  to  the  recruiting  and  organization  of  the 
Majorca  division  ;  one  sentence  in  which  is  interesting, 
from  certain  circumstances  which  eventually  caused  the 
interference  of  Lord  Wellington  himself.  '  By  the 
enclosed  copy  of  a  letter  from  General  Valcarcel  of  the 
24th  September,  you  will  see  an  attempt  made  to  take 
the  inspection,  and  consequently  the  proposal  of  officers 
out  of  my  hands.  For  if  all  my  propuestas^  are  to  be 
submitted  to  the  opinion  of  the  Inspectors  in  Cadiz,  it  is 
a  perfect  joke  to  decorate  me  with  the  title  of  Inspector- 
General  of  this  division.' 

The  jealousy  of  General  Whittingham  imbibed  by  some 
of  the  Spanish  ministers,  vented  itself  in  various  annoying 
ways,  on  which  there  is  no  space  to  dwell. 

No  wonder  that  at  last,  the  patience  which  Mr.  Wellesley 
had  admired,* when  displayed  in  the  lighter  work  at  Isla 
de  Leon,  was  nearly  exhausted  by  the  heavy  burden 
at  Majorca,  and  that  to  his  brother-in-law  he  began  to 
display  his  half-formed  wish  to  retire  from  the  Spanish 
service. 

On  the  2nd  November,  after  passing  nearly  ^vq  months 
on  the  Island,  he  pours  out  all  his  feelings  on  the  conduct 
of  those  '  whose  dearest  interest  it  should  be  to  protect 
the  formation  of  a  division,  which  might  lay  the  founda- 
tion of  the  salvation  of  the  Spanish  monarchy ;  but  which, 
at  all  events  must  ensure  the  safety  of  the  Balearic  Islands. 

♦  Proposals  or  recommendations  for  promotions  and  appointments. 

1,  2 


148  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGIIAM. 

The  Minister  of  War  is  at  the  head  of  the  whole  intrigue  ;  * 
and  not  a  day  passes  without  orders  being  given  directly- 
contrary  to  the  basis  of  the  agreement  between  Mr. 
Wellesley  and  the  Spanish  Government ;  and  tending  only 
to  a  repetition  of  insults  to  induce  me  to  throw  up  the 
command,  and  leave  the  island. 

'  Had  I  only  to  do  with  the  Spanish  Government,  I 
should  not  have  hesitated  a  moment ;  but  I  am  now 
held  by  other  ties  to  me  ten  thousand  times  more  strong. 
I  am  compromised  with  the  British  Government,  and 
therefore  whatever  may  happen,  I  shall  not  take  a  single 
step  without  its  being  first  sanctioned  by  its  appro- 
bation.' 

On  the  10th,  11th,  and  12th  November,  three  more 
letters,  long  and  full,  are  dispatched  to  Mr.  Wellesley, 
exposing  the  conduct  of  the  Spanish  authorities  and  the 
defenceless  state  in  which  they  had  left  Majorca  and  the 
injurious  treatment  which  he  had  met  at  their  hands. 
The  letter  of  the  12th  commences  thus:  'Every  day 
brings  fresh  proofs  of  the  decided  enmity  borne  by  General 
Cuesta  to  everything  English,  and  of  his  particular  hosti- 
lity to  me.'     The  letter  continues  : 

'  Conceiving  it  of  importance  to  forward  my  dispatches 
to  you  of  the  11th  and  10th  of  this  moiith,  by  a  safe 
conveyance,  I  sent  an  officer  of  my  staff  to ,  General 
Cuesta's  secretary's  office  to  ask  for  a  passport  to  Cadiz, 
for  Lieutenant  Fiel  Macdoudel  of  His  Majesty's  75th 
Eegiment  of  infantry.  The  reception  which  this  officer 
met  with  is  too  scandalous  to  be  related.  The  Captain- 
General  made  use  of  language  to  him,  which  ought  only 
to  be  used  by  porters  ; — asked  him  who  had  constituted 
him  the  defender  of  Englishmen,  and  threatened  him 
with  punishment  if  he  again  interfered  in  such  like  com- 
missions. 

*  This  was  the  man  who  scrupled  not  officially  to  worry  and  insult  Lord 
Wellington  himself. 


DIFFICULTIES   WITH   SPANISH    OFFICIALS.  149 

'  Aware  that  this  behaviour,  on  the  part  of  the  Captain- 
General  could  only  proceed  from  a  desire  to  irritate  me, 
and,  by  throwing  me  off  my  guard,  induce  me  to  commit 
myself  by  some  act  of  violence,  I  abstained  from  seeing 
him  on  the  subject,  and  contented  myself  with  sending  him 
an  official  letter  requesting  a  passport  for  a  British  officer 
to  go  to  Gibraltar. 

'  The  passport,  which  Lieutenant  Macdoudel,  who  is 
nephew  to  Colonel  Campbell,  will  have  the  honour  to 
show  you,  was  the  answer.  I  beg  leave  once  more  to 
state,  that  my  stay  here  cannot  but  lead  to  the  worst 
consequences,  unless  the  Captain-General  be  removed, 
and  unless  the  independence  of  my  command  be  fully  and 
decidedly  established.' 

On  the  13th  and  25th  November  he  again  impresses  on 
the  Minister  the  state  of  his  relations  with  the  Spanish 
officials,  and  the  difficulties  he  has  to  encounter  in  obtain- 
ing necessary  supplies  for  men  and  horses.  In  that  of 
the  25th,  he  reports  on  the  enlisting  of  some  Germans 
into  his  division :  '  Baron  Halberg,  an  Austrian  officer  in 
the  service,  was  sent  by  me  to  Cabrera  to  choose  out  the 
Germans  only,  and  not  even  to  take  Italians  or  Poles. 
He  in  consequence  brought  with  him  133  men,  all  Ger- 
mans, and  who  have  since  conducted  themselves  with  the 
greatest  propriety.' 

In  a  letter  dated  7th  September,  1811,  Mr.  Wellesley 
writes  :  '  I  am  informed  by  M.  de  Bardaxi  that  the  Junta 
has  consented  that  your  troops  should  be  supplied  with 
rations  from  the  island  ;  that  the  necessary  buildings  will 
be  allotted  for  their  accommodation,  and  that  you  are  to 
be  allowed  to  recruit  from  the  German  prisoners  at  Ca- 
brera to  the  extent  of  600  men.' 

On  the  20th  December  General  Whittingham  congra- 
tulates Mr.  Wellesley  upon  his  appointment,  from  simple 
minister  and  envoy,  to  the  post  of  ambassador  extraordi- 


150  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

nary,  but  accidentally  omits  entirely  the  title  '  excellency ' 
which  was  now  Mr.  Wellesley's  due.  One  sentence  in 
this  letter,  without  comment  of  any  kind,  records  a  fact, 
which  must  nevertheless,  have  afforded  unspeakable  relief 
to  the  writer  :  '  I  have  only  now  to  communicate  the  news 
of  the  death  of  the  Captain-General  Don  Gregorio  de  la 
Cuesta.' 


UNPOPULARITY   OF   ENGLISHMEN  IN   SPAIN.  151 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

1812. 

LETTEE  TO  SIR  HENRY  WELLESLEY — GENERAL  WHITTINGHAli's  VISIT 
TO  MINORCA — COLONEL  SERRANO's  REPORT  OF  THE  ALARM  IN  HIS 
ABSENCE — MILITARY  COLLEGE  ESTABLISHED  BY  GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM 
— A  GENEROUS  AND  LIBERAL  SPANISH  BISHOP — VOLUMINOUS  DISPATCH 
TO  MR.  WELLESLEY — IMPORTANCE  OP  THE  MAJORCA  DIVISION — ITS 
NUMERICAL  STRENGTH  AT  THIS  TIM  E  WEAK — SH0CE:ING  STATE  OV 
SPANISH  OFFICERS  IN  PALMA — CONDITIONAL  RESIGNATION  OF  COMMAND 
—  MAJORCA  DIVISION  TO  OPERATE  ON  EASTERN  COAST  UNDER  LORD 
WILLIAM  BENTINCK — LETTER  TO  SPANISH  MILITARY  INTENDANT — A 
JUSTIFIED  ASSURANCE  GIVEN  TO  THE  ADMIRAL — URGENT  REQUEST  FOR 
A  PAYMASTER — GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM  EMBARKS  WITH  HIS  DIVISION 
— RESIGNS  HIS  COMMAND  PROSPECTIVELY — IS  FLATTERINGLY  REQUESTED 
TO  RELINQUISH  HIS  DESIGN — HIS  GRATEFUL  REPLY  TO  THE  AMBAS- 
SADOR— SUCCESSFUL  AFFAIRS  OF  POSTS — A  MILITARY  DIVERSION — THE 
PAYMASTER  DIFFICULTY — A   PROSPECT   OF  RELIEF. 

One  of  the  great  disadvantages  under  which  General 
Whittingham  laboured  was  that  the  unpopularity  of  the 
Spaniards  with  the  English  army  abroad,  and  with  Eng- 
lishmen at  home,  extended  itself  to  the  English  officers 
employed  in  the  Spanish  service.  The  extra  army  rank 
of  these  agents,  though  for  the  most  part  only  local  and 
temporary  yet,  perhaps  not  unnaturally,  excited  the  jea- 
lousy of  the  regimental  officers.  Lord  Welhngton,  how- 
ever, very  early  in  the  war,  recorded  his  opinion  that 
no  officers  more  deserved  their  promotion  than  the  British 
agents  with  the  Spanish  army;  whose  duties,  indeed, 
were  arduous  and  hazardous,  and  required  much  exertion 
and  intelligence  to  perform  them  efficiently.  Lord 
Wellington  was  not  always  satisfied  with  all  of  them,  but 
all  the  readers  of  his  dispatches  knew  that  he  recorded 


152  MEMOIR   OP   Sm   S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

his  complete  satisfaction  at  the  close  of  the  war,  with  the 
conduct  of  General  Whittingham,  who,  whilst  only  a 
Captain  in  the  British  army,  had  been  addressed  by  his 
Lordship  as  a  Spanish  Major-General.  Nevertheless  the 
year  1811  had  not  on  the  whole  been  a  fortunate  one  to 
the  Major-General.  But  1812  opened  more  cheerfully ; 
the  death  of  General  Cuesta  having  removed  one  great 
enemy  to  the  raising  of  the  Majorca  division  under  the 
command  of  an  Englishman. 


Major-General  Whittingham  to  the  Bight  Hon, 
TIeriry  Wellesley. 

(Extract.) 

'  Palma,  Qth  January,  1812. 

'  Enclosed  I  have  the  honour  to  send  you  a  return  of 
the  force  under  my  command,  by  which  you  will  see  its 
gradual  increase.  The  state  of  discipline  of  this  small 
corps  is  so  far  advanced,  that  they  manoeuvre  in  line 
without  difficulty,  and  the  interior  of  regiments  will  bear 
the  minutest  inspection. 

'  I  beg  leave  to  submit  to  your  better  judgment  the 
good  effect  that  would  be  produced  by  the  naming  Briga- 
dier Marquis  de  Vivot  my  second  in  command.  He  w^as 
wounded  in  Catalonia,  but  he  is  now  well  enough  to 
mount  on  horseback.  The  Marquis  is  the  head  of  the 
nobility  of  this  island,  has  very  considerable  estates  here, 
and  is  particularly  attached  to  the  English.  It  is  at  his 
express  desire  that  I  take  the  liberty  of  soliciting  this 
favour.'* 

About  the  24th  of  January  General  Whittingham  em- 
barked for  Minorca  on  some  military  business,  returning 
to  Palma  in  fifteen  days.    The  following  is  the  translation 

*   Mr.  Wellesley's  answer  is  not  extant,  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
the  request  here  made  was  complied  with. 


HIS   VISIT   TO   MINORCA.  153 

of  an  official  letter  written  to  him  by  liis  Chief  of  the 
Staff  during  his  absence.*  It  proves  how  necessary  to 
the  peace  and  security  of  Majorca  was  the  presence  of  the 
energetic  English  commander : — 

Colonel  Francisco  Serrano  to  Major-General 
Whittingham, 

^  Palma,  Qth  February,  1812. 

'General, — From  circumstances,  which  have  occurred 
here  during  the  thirteen  days  of  your  absence,  I  am 
very  anxious  for  your  return ;  and  have  determined  to 
dispatch  Captain  Dominguez  to  you  with  this  letter, 
giving  a  detail  of  the  events  most  deserving  your  at- 
tention. 

'  Shortly  after  your  departure  reports  were  circulated 
of  a  rising  and  assembling  of  the  people ;  and  some 
attempts  were  made  to  seduce  the  soldiers  of  the  division, 
who  immediately  communicated  the  fact  to  their  officers ; 
and  from  other  circumstances  that  occurred,  I  conceived 
it  prudent  to  assemble  the  commanding  officers.  I  issued 
out  ammunition ;  secretly  reinforced  the  guards ;  and 
pointed  out  their  alarm-posts  to  the  different  corps,  in 
such  a  manner  that,  at  the  least  commotion,  they  should 
assemble  and  occupy  the  most  important  posts,  to  support 
the  public  authorities,  and  to  quell  any  tumult  which 
might  arise. 

'I  conceived  it  prudent  to  take  these  necessary 
measures  of  precaution,  as  the  alarm  had  been  very 
general,  and  had  extended  itself  to  all  the  constituted 
authorities.  The  commanding  officers  of  corps  have 
behaved  as  you  could  wish,  and  may  be  fully  depended 
upon  in  case  of  need. 

'I  have,  &c., 

'  Feancisco  Serrano.' 

*  It  appears  that  tlie  letter  was  written  only  two  days  before  the  return 
of  the  General  from  Minorca,  and  was  probably  delivered  to  him  on 
landing. 


154  MEMOm   OF   SIE   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

The  following  letter  speaks  for  itself :  — 

To  Vice-Admiral  Sir  Edward  Pellew,  Bart. 

^  Palma,  Uth  February,  1812. 

'  Sir, — I  have  the  honour  to  enclose  the  prospectus 
and  regulations  of  a  college  for  the  officers  and  cadets 
of  the  division  under  my  command,  which  I  have 
established  in  this  town. 

.  '  From  the  entire  neglect  of  education  in  Spain, 
during  the  last  twenty  years,  and  more  particularly  since 
the  Eevolution,  most  of  the  young  men  commencing 
their  mihtary  careers  as  cadets  scarcely  know  how  to 
read  and  write.  The  expense  of  the  establishment  at 
the  present  moment  would  have  been  a  serious  objec- 
tion, had  it  not  been  done  away  with  by  the  zeal  and 
patriotism  of  various  individuals. 

'  The  Bishop  of  Majorca  [Llaneres] — independently  of 
a  donation  of  20,000  reals  vellon* — has  given  up  a 
house  for  the  academy.  The  masters  have  all  under- 
taken their  employments  gratis  ;  and  as  the  officers  and 
cadets  all  beloQg  to  the  division,  I  have  the  satisfaction 
of  seeing  my  ideas  realized,  without  the  smallest  expense, 
either  to  the  British  or  Spanish  Government. 
'  I  have,  &c., 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

Major-General  Whittingham  to  the  Bight  Hon. 
H.  Wellesley. 

(Extract.) 

'  Palma,  ISth  February,  1812. 

'  Sir, — I  have  the  honour  to  inform  you  of  the  arrival 
of  Colonel  Campbell  on  the  8th  instant,  and  beg  leave 
to  offer  you  my  warmest  thanks  for  your  very  zealous 

*  ^200.  So  generous  and  liberal-minded  a  bishop  in  Spain  was  truly  a 
wonderful  phenomenon. 


REPORT   ON   MAJORCA  155 

interference  and  support  in  .obviating  the  many  diffi- 
culties under  which  I  have  hitherto  laboured ;  the  result 
of  which  will,  I  feel  assured,  prove  highly  beneficial  to 
this  division. 

"I  beg  leave  to  enclose  for  your  information  the 
following  papers : — 

'  No.  1.  The  translation  of  my  exposition  to  the 
Junta ;  which  I  felt  myself  imperiously  called  upon  to 
make,  from  the  critical  position  this  island  is  placed  in, 
owing  to  the  late  success  of  the  enemy  on  the  opposite 
coast. 

"  No.  2.  My  letter  to  the  Admiral. 

''  No.  3.  Copy  of  a  letter  to  me  from  the  Chief  of  my 
Stafi*  during  my  absence. 

"  No.  4.  General  return  of  the  strength  of  the  division.* 

"  No.  5.  Translation  of  my  observations  on  Puerto  Pi, 
a  small  port  in  the  Bay  of  Palma ;  and  the  advantages 
which  might  be  derived  from  employing  the  French 
prisoners  in  its  enlargement." 

'  I  found  it  necessary  to  go  to  Minorca,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  personal  communication  with  the  Admiral, 
relative  to  the  prisoners  here,  and  other  important 
points,  and  my  absence  was  prolonged  by  contrary 
winds  to  fifteen  days. 

"  The  Admiral  was  pleased  to  express  his  unqualified 
approbation  and  concurrence  in  the  proposed  system 
of  pontoons ;  and  offered  to  fit  them  out,  and  equip 
them  completely,  and  to  send  a  frigate  and  brig  to 
guard  them.  He  also  expressed  his  earnest  desire  that 
I  should  establish  the  telegraphs  as  soon  as  possible. 

'The  excellent  disposition  and  the  zealous  support 
which  I  have  experienced  from  the  [^acting']  Captain 
General  Gregory  will  make  me  regret  the  loss  of  one 

*  No  copy  of  this  return  has  reached  the  Editor's  hands. 


156  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

SO  every  way  qualified  for  this  important  command  ;  as 
he  combines  discernment  and  judgment  with  energy, 
and  decision,  and  has  given  me  his  most  decided  support 
in  everything  relative  to  the  division,  and,  as  you  will 
see,  by  No.  3,  we  require  here  one  of  his  firm  and  de- 
termined character. 

'A  levy  of  all  the  idle  strangers  takes  place  to-mor- 
row ;  and  the  Alistamento  Generate  immediately  fol- 
lows. The  volunteers  of  Colonel  Campbell's  battalion, 
not  having  presented  themselves  within  the  period 
allotted,  the  privilege  of  limited  service  is  done  away 
with,  and  no  exceptions  are  to  be  permitted  in  the  con- 
scription. 

'  On  referring  to  No.  3,  you  will  perceive  that  the 
disaffected  party  here  were  in  movement  during  my 
absence ;  tampering  with  the  troops,  posting  placards, 
&c.  But  their  attempts  were  rendered  abortive  by  the 
excellent  disposition  of  the  officers,  whose  conduct  it 
is  impossible  to  praise  more  forcibly,  than  by  stating 
that  they  obeyed  the  orders  of  the  Chief  of  my  Staff, 
(although  there  were  several  of  superior  rank)  with  the 
same  zeal  and  promptitude  as  though  I  had  been  pre- 
sent. The  same  excellent  dispositions  were  manifested 
by  the  soldiers  of  the  division. 

'  I  must  beg  leave  to  call  to  your  attention  our  finan- 
cial necessities,  and  to  submit  to  your  better  judgment 
the  importance  of  the  Balearic  Islands,  whose  safety,  at 
this  critical  moment,  may  be  confidently  said  to  de- 
pend on  the  existence  of  this  division,  the  resources 
of  which  must  entirely  depend  on  your  countenance  and 
support. 

'Convinced  that  nothing  is  so  much  wanting  among 
Spanish  officers  as  the  means  of  the  acquiring  military 
information — and  satisfied  of  the  necessity  of  giving  to 
the  cadets  a  military  education, — I  have  established  a 
college   here  on  the  basis  of  the   enclosed  prospectus. 


ESTABLISHES   A   MILITARY   COLLEGE.  157 

It  was  opened  yesterday,  in  the  presence  of  the  Captain 
General,  several  Bishops,  and  all  the  principal  officers 
and  people  of  rank  in  the  Island. 

'It  is  not  a  trifling  consideration,  at  the  present  mo- 
ment, to  be  able  to  say  that  the  estabhshment  will  be 
of  no  expense.  The  generosity  of  the  Bishop  has  fur- 
nished us  with  a  house,  and  20,000  rs.  vn.  to  purchase 
books,  &c.,  and  as  all  the  masters  attend  gratis,  and  the 
officers  and  cadets  belong  to  the  division,  no  disburse- 
ment of  any  kind  will  be  necessary.' 

The  safety  of  the  Balearic  Islands  was  considered  of 
great  importance  at  that  time  by  Lord  Wellington ;  and 
General  Whittingham  was  in  constant  correspondence 
with  the  Admiral  and  Ambassador,  upon  the  defence  of 
the  Islands,  and  upon  plans  for  future  aggressions  against 
the  enemy  on  the  main-land.  These  letters  display  a 
consummate  military  knowledge  both  in  theory  and  in 
detail ;  but  the  extracts  must  here  be  limited  to  a  few  of 
the  most  interesting  particulars. 

To  the  Bight  Hon.  H.  Wellesley. 

(Extract.) 

*  Palma,  2lst  Fehmanj,  1812. 

'  The  force  at  present  under  my  command  is  only  2,200 
men  ;*  but  if  I  may  judge  from  the  firm  measures  adopted 
by  General  Gregory,  this  number  will  be  more  than 
doubled  in  less  than  two  months :  and  nothing  would 
give  me  so  much  pleasure  as  to  be  employed  in  any  plan 
of  attack  which  might  merit  Sir  Edward  [Pellewj's  ap- 
probation. 

*  Hitherto  the  comparatively  slow  growth  of  the  division  had  been 
caused  mainly  by  the  hostilities  of  old  General  Ciiesta,  and  by  the  jealousy 
of  the  Minister  of  War,  and  the  neglect  of  provincial  Juntas  to  fulfil  their 
engagements. 


158  MEMOIR   OF   SIU   S.  F.  AVHITTINGHAM. 

'  As  the  difficulties  we  have  hitherto  met  with  will  pro- 
bably cease  now  that  a  Eegency  is  appointed,  so  every 
way  deserving  of  the  national  confidence,  and  which 
appears  so  completely  to  merit  your  approbation,  I 
have  not  the  smallest  doubt  that  a  few  months  will  en- 
able me  to  repay  the  confidence  with  which  you  have 
honoured  me,  by  efficient  co-operation  [on  my  part],  with 
the  Admiral  in  his  plans  of  attack  ;  at  the  same  time  that 
I  may  be  able  to  answer  for  the  safety  of  these  valuable 
Islands. 

'However,  the  finances  of  Majorca  are  in  such  confusion, 
as  to  make  it  wholly  out  of  its  power  to  meet  the  expense 
of  paying  the  troops ;  and  indeed,  to  such  a  state  are  they 
reduced  that  the  officers  of  the  2nd  and  3rd  battalions  of 
Cordova  and  Burgos  are  literally  begging  charity ;  and  a 
few  days  ago,  one  of  them  fainted  away  in  the  coffee-room 
from  absolute  want.^  Foreseeing,  as  I  must  of  necessity 
do,  the  situation  in  which  I  shall  see  myself,  with  the 
troops  under  my  command,  should  my  pecuniary  re- 
sources entirely  fail,  I  take  the  liberty  of  earnestly  en- 
treating you — not  only  as  British  Ambassador,  but  as  a 
friend,  to  whose  kindness  I  have  been  indebted  for  many 
favours, — that,  should  the  British  Government  consider 
the  existence  of  a  division  of  4,000  or  5,000  men  in  the 
Island  of  Majorca,  as  not  necessary  either  for  co-operation 
in  the  plans  of  attack  of  Admiral  Sir  Edward  Pellew,  or 
for  the  defence  and  security  of  the  Balearic  Islands, — and 
should  therefore  determine  to  lend  it  no  further  assistance 
— you  will  have  the  goodness  to  obtain  an  order  to  have 
all  these  troops  sent  immediately  to  any  part  of  the  con- 
tinent that  may  be  judged  proper  ;  and,  at  the  same  time 
to  give  in  my  resignation  to  the  Spanish  Government,  in 
order  that  I  may  proceed  without  loss  of  time  to  join  the 

*  In  the  original  the  words  (judging  by  the  book  into  which  the  letter 
was  copied)  do  not  appear  to  have  been  underlined;  but  the  Editor  deems 
them  worthy  of  italics. 


AFFAIRS   IN   MAJORCA.  159 

British  army  in  Portugal.  It  will  be  the  last  time,  my 
dear  sir,  that  I  shall  be  troublesome  to  you  ;  but  I  do  most 
earnestly  beg  and  entreat,  that  you  will  add  this  favour  to 
the  very  long  list,  and  enable  me  to  avoid  the  wretchedness 
of  witnessing  the  misery  of  those  we  esteem,  without 
[having]  the  power  of  applying  any  remedy.' 

In  a  letter  from  Lord  Wellington  to  Sir  Henry  Wellesley, 
KB.,  dated  'Badajoz,  11th  April,  1812,'  there  occurs  this 
sentence,  '  Fourthly  ;  that  3,000  men  of  General  Eoche's 
division  at  Alicante,  and  3,000  men  of  General  Whitting- 
ham's  division  at  Majorca,  should  be  prepared  to  be  em- 
barked early  in  June,  in  order  to  join  and  co-operate  on 
the  eastern  coast,  with  the  troops  under  Lord  William 
Bentinck,  which  will  come  from  Sicily.'  In  another  letter 
from  the  same  to  the  same,  dated  17th  May,  Lord  Wel- 
lington appears  to  have  rightly  estimated  the  future 
strength  of  the  Majorca  division,  which  (after  the  deatli 
of  General  Cuesta  and  the  change  of  Eegency  in  Spain) 
had  already  considerably  augmented  in  numbers.  'There 
are  other  points  for  consideration,'  (writes  Lord  Welling- 
ton), '  First ;  how  many  men  is  it  expedient  to  leave  in 
Majorca  for  the  defence  of  the  Island,  of  the  7,000  of 
which  it  is  supposed  General  Whittingham's  division  will 
consist  ?  Secondly,  General  Whittingham's  division  will 
have  been  newly  raised,  excepting  3,000  men.  How  many 
of  the  7,000  men  would  it  be  expedient  to  leave  behind, 
as  being  recruits  and  unfit  for  service  ?  ' 

On  that  same  date  (and  the  day  following)  General 
Whittingham  was  corresponding  with  the  Admiral  and 
the  Ambassador,  on  the  details  of  the  expedition,  embar- 
kation, &c. 

He  had  also  to  correspond  semi-officially  with  his 
father-in-law,  who  was  military  intendant  of  Majorca  in 
the  service  of  the  King  of  Spain  : — 


160  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 


Major-General  Whittingham  to  Don  Pedro  Creus» 

'  Palma,  18th  May,  1812. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — The  extreme  distress  in  which  I  have 
found  this  island  at  my  return  from  Cadiz,  in  spite  of 
every  effort  of  the  Marquis  of  Compigny  *  to  provide 
against  the  growing  difficulties,  makes  me  particularly 
anxious  to  call  your  attention  to  this  important  point,  in 
the  hopes  that  you  will  use  your  best  endeavours  with  Sir 
Edward  Pellew,  to  induce  him  to  aid  and  assist  us  in  our 
manifold  wants. 

'  The  Marquis  is  ready  to  give  me  2,000  conscripts  im- 
mediately, which  will  complete  the  division  to  5,000  men. 
But  as  even  for  the  existing  force  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  find  bread,  he  will,  I  much  fear,  be  induced  to  delay 
the  levies  of  men  till  after  the  harvest,  which  would  be 
too  late  to  be  of  any  service  to  the  division.  If  it  were 
possible  for  Sir  Edward  Pellew  to  furnish  me  with  a  suffi- 
cient quantity  of  flour  to  supply  the  rations  of  5,000  men 
at  one  and  a  half  pound  of  bread  [per  day]  for  one  month, 
the  harvest  would  be  got  in,  and  our  difficulties  would  be 
at  an  end.  But  without  this  assistance  I  am  too  well  con- 
vinced that  I  shall  not  be  able  to  effect  the  organization 
of  the  proposed  division  as  speedily  as  I  would  wish,  and 
as  the  service  I  know  will  require. 

'  Should  it  be  in  Sir  Edward's  power  to  furnish  us  with 
the  proposed  supply,  the  4,000  conscripts  will  be  given 
me  immediately ;  and  the  Marquis  will  give  bills  on  the 
Spanish  Government  for  the  supply.  Have  the  goodness 
to  state  the  extreme  necessity  of  our  case  to  Sir  Edward ; 
and  believe  me  to  be,  &c., 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

He  wrote  also   direct   to  Sir  Edward,   on   the   same 

*  Now  Captain-General  of  the  Balearic  Islands. 


LETTER  TO   SIR    EDWARD    PELLEW.  161 

subject,  and  estimated  the  force  he  proposed  to  embark, 
including  some  expected  troops  from  Alicante,  at  up- 
wards of  4,200  men. 

The  following  letter  is  worthy  of  record,  for  it  con- 
tains a  prophecy  which  was  destined  to  be  no  idle  or 
sanguine  boast,  but  a  fact  established  on  undeniable 
testimonies : — 

To  Vice-Admiral  Sir  Edward  Pellew,  Bart. 

'  Palma,  2m  May,  1812. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — The  extreme  anxiety  which  I  feel  to 
get  the  division  in  a  perfect  state  to  meet  your's  and 
Lord  William  [Bentinckj's  wishes  by  the  end  of  next 
month,  makes  me,  I  fear,  very  troublesome.  But  your 
well-known  zeal  for  the  service  will  plead  my  best 
excuse. 

'  For  God's  sake  press  Compigny  not  to  lose  a  moment's 
time ;  and  you  may  rest  assured  that  the  troops  of  this 
small  and  gallant  division  will  prove  themselves  worthy  of 
fighting  by  the  side  of  Englishmen. 

*  I  have,  &c., 

'Samford  Whittingham.' 

On  the  28th  May  he  sends  to  Sir  Henry  Wellesley  his 
accounts  of  expenditure  and  receipts,  and  trusts  that  by 
the  end  of  June  his  division  will  amount  to  4,000  effective 
muskets,  exclusive  of  cavalry  and  artillery  ;  and  he  repeats 
the  promise  of  their  future  effectiveness  in  the  field  in 
nearly  the  same  words  as  he  had  lately  addressed  to  the 
Admiral. 

To  the  Right  Hon.  Sir  H.  Wellesley^  K.B, 

'  Palma,  ^Oth  June,  1812. 

'  Sir, — The  division  being  now  paid  by  the  British 
Government,  according  to  the  existing  agreement  between 

M 


162  MEMOIR   OF  SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

the  allied  courts,  I  beg  to  submit  to  your  Excellency's  con- 
sideration the  necessity  of  appointing  a  British  paymaster - 
general,  or  other  officer,  who  will  be  responsible  for,  and 
charged  with  the  accounts  of  the  division. 

'Hitherto  those  accounts  have  been  kept  by  persons 
appointed  by  the  Spanish  Government  for  that  purpose ; 
and  I  have  taken  the  precaution  to  have  them  regularly 
examined,  and  made  out  in  triplicates.  But  it  is  utterly 
impossible  that  in  the  midst  of  active  duties,  I  can  remain 
charged  with  such  a  weight  of  responsibility,  and  with  ac- 
counts of  so  complicated  a  nature. 

'  I  trust  that  you  will  perceive  the  necessity  of  calling 
the  attention  of  His  Majesty's  Government  to  this  im- 
portant object ;  and  that  until  a  person  so  authorized  can 
come  from  England,  you  will  be  pleased  to  send  an 
officer  of  the  Paymaster's  department  to  take  charge  of 
the  accounts  of  this  division,  which  will  be  more  satisfac- 
tory to  your  Excellency.  Besides,  should  any  accident 
happen  to  me,  the  presence  of  such  a  person  would  ob- 
viate every  difficulty,  which  would  otherwise  arise.  And 
I  trust  that  your  Excellency  will  pardon  my  pressing  this 
subject,  and  urging  the  speedy  departure  of  the  person 
you  may  appoint,  when  you  consider  the  very  great  re- 
sponsibility attached  to  the  families  of  persons  entrusted 
with  public  monies. 

'  I  have,  &c., 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

On  the  24th  July,  1812,  the  Majorca  division  embarked 
at  Palma  :  the  infantry  portion  of  which  consisted  of  159 
officers,  3  chaplains,  8  surgeons  and  4,180  non-commis- 
sioned officers  and  men.* 

From, '  on  board  the  "  Eomulus  "  at  sea  off  Alicant '  on 
the  '  8th  August,'  General  Whittingham,  amongst  other 

*  Of  the  cavalry  and  artillery  that  embarked,  no  returns  are  extant. 


RESIGNS   HIS   COxMMAND   PROSPECTIVELY.  163 

matters,  again  urges  the  affair  of  the  pay  mastership  on  Sir 
Henry  Wellesley.  What  led  him  the  day  following  to 
send  in  his  resignation  of  his  Spanish  command  can  only 
be  surmized,  as  Sir  Henry's  letter  which  induced  the  re- 
signation is  not  forthcoming. 

Major-General  Whittingham  to  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  MuCHAMiEL,  2nd  September,  1812. 

'  By  the  enclosed  letter  for  Colonel  Gordon,  you  will 
see  the  state  of  the  force  which  I  brought  with  me ;  [of] 
that  [which]  I  left  at  Palma,  and  Mahon ;  and  the  total 
strength  of  the  division.  The  detail  of  our  military  opera- 
tions is  also  enclosed. 

'  The  troops  under  my  command  have  conducted  them- 
selves with  so  much  order  and  discipline,  and  have  made 
their  marches  in  so  military  a  manner,  that  they  have 
merited  the  approbation  of  everybody  ;  and  I  have  not  the 
smallest  doubt,  that  whenever  we  come  into  action,  they 
will  do  themselves  much  honour.  But  unless  things  are 
put  upon  another  footing,  it  is  impossible  for  me  to 
continue  in  this  command.'  [He  then  repeats  his  pay- 
mastership  grievances  and  adds]  '  I  have  repeatedly  written 
to  Sir  Henry  Wellesley  requesting  to  have  a  paymaster  of 
the  division  appointed,  but  without  effect.  And  I  have 
finally  written  to  him  to  say  that  as  soon  as  a  general 
action  will  allow  me  to  retire  with  credit,  I  shall  give  up 
the  command  of  the  division  and  return  to  England.  I  am 
sure  that  you  will  see  the  extreme  necessity  for  taking  a 
speedy  determination.' 

However,  Sir  Henry  Wellesley  was  in  no  hurry  to  ac- 
cept of  the  resignation  of  such  an  officer : — 


M    2 


164  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

Sir  Henri/  Wellesley,  KB.  to  Major-General 
Whittingham. 

(Extract.) 

'  Cadiz,  Qth  September,  1812. 

'  1  have  the  honour  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
letter  of  the  9th  August,  which  only  reached  me  last 
night. 

'  T  can  hardly  bring  myself  to  believe  that  the  contents 
of  my  letter  of  the  25th  July  can  have  given  rise  to  the 
resolution  which  you  have  announced  to  me  of  resigning 
your  present  command.  There  was  notliing  in  that  letter 
wdiich  was  intended  to  hurt  your  feelings,  and  if  you  will 
recollect  that  I  am  personally  responsible  for  every  shilling 
of  public  money  placed  at  my  disposal  in  the  service  of 
Spain,  you  cannot  be  surprised  that  I  should  have  adverted 
to  the  expenses  of  your  corps,  and  the  necessity  of  con- 
hning  these  expenses  within  certain  limits. 

'  If  your  resolution  to  resign  was  occasioned  by  the  con- 
tents of  my  letter  of  the  27th  July,  I  hope  that  this  ex- 
planation will  satisfy  you  that  it  was  written  in  the  mere 
performance  of  my  duty,  and  that  it  was  not  intended  in 
any  v.^ay  to  reflect  on  you  personally. 

'  1  believe  that  I  might  venture  to  add,  that  from  the 
moment  of  my  arrival  in  Spain,  I  have  given  you  all  the 
assistance  and  support  in  my  power,  and  I  am  sincerely 
disposed  to  continue  them  to  you,  as  long  as  the  means  of 
doing  so  shall  be  entrusted  to  me.  I  cannot  therefore  but 
hope  that  you  will  be  induced  to  relinquish  your  intention 
of  resigning.' 

No  doubt  the  fact  of  his  being  still  left  without  the  as- 
sistance of  a  paymaster  had,  in  the  confinement  of  a  ship, 
preyed  with  additional  force  upon  the  mind  of  General 
Whittingham,  and  caused  him  to  feel  acutely  those  criti- 
cisms as  to  his  official  expenditure,  to  which  all  officers  in 


HIS   GRATEFUL   REPLY   TO   THE   AMBASSADOR.         165 

command  are  liable.  Perhaps  also  his  anxious  desire  to 
provide  for  the  comfort  of  his  officers  and  men  inclined 
him  to  greater  liberality  than  governments  are  usually 
prepared  to  sanction. 

On  the  21st  September  General  Whittingham  writes  a 
long  and  grateful  letter  to  Captain  General  O'Donnell  the 
hero  of  Catalonia,  who  had  written  to  him  a  very  com- 
plimentary epistle  on  the  state  of  the  Majorca  division. 

3Iaj or- General  Whittingham  to  Sir  Henry  Wellesley. 

(Extract.) 

*  MucHAMiEL,  ^rd  October,  1812. 

'  Dear  Sir, — I  have  the  honour  to  acknowledge  the . 
receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  6th  September ;  and  I  beg 
leave  to  return  you  my  most  grateful  thanks  for  this 
fresh  proof  of  your  kindness  and  attention.  I  should 
be  the  most  ungrateful  man  alive  were  I  even  for  a 
moment  to  forget  the  many  and  great  favours  which  I 
have  received  at  your  hands  ;  and  it  will  ever  be  the 
first  wish  of  my  heart  to  acknowledge  publicly  and 
privately  my  sentiments  of  gratitude  and  respect  to- 
wards you.  It  is  quite  sufficient  for  me  to  know  that 
you  wish  me  to  continue  in  the  command  of  this  di- 
vision, to  do  away  with  every  idea  of  giving  it  up.  But 
at  the  same  time  I  wish  with  all  respect  to  call  to  your 
mind  the  delicacy  of  my  situation.  The  only  thing  that 
I  ever  had  a  dread  of  was  to  become  a  public  accountant ! 
As  long,  however,  as  the  troops  were  in  garrison  I  con- 
ceived, that  by  the  greatest  care  and  attention,  and  with 
the  assistance  of  Colonel  Campbell,  I  might  have  every 
accoimt,  with  all  the  requisite  receipts,  arranged  monthly, 
and  thus  be  always  in  a  state  to  meet  examination.  But 
now  that  the  troops  are  in  campaign,  and  that  I  am  un- 
avoidably exposed  to  lose  my  papers  by  any  of  tlie  very 
many  accidents  that  so  often  occur  in  war,  I  tremble  at  a 


166  ]VJEMOm   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

responsibility  that  may  not  only  ruin  my  own  private 
fortune,  but,  what  is  infinitely  worse,  compromise  my 
good  name  and  place  my  honour  in  doubt  in  the  public 
opinion.  Allow  me  to  say,  my  dear  sir,  with  the  freedom 
which  your  friendship  entitles  me  to  use,  that  you  are  not 
in  the  same  situation.  It  is  true  that  you  are  answerable 
for  the  public  monies  entrusted  to  your  charge :  but  there 
can  be  no  difficulty  in  showing  the  sums  that  you  have 
entrusted  to  me  ;  and  for  the  expenditure  I  alone  am 
answerable.  I  have  ever  been  of  opinion  that  it  is  not 
sufficient  for  a  man  to  be  most  honourable  in  all  the 
transactions  of  life,  [but  that]  it  is  indispensable  that  he 
should  never  be  stained  by  even  the  shadow  of  a  doubt. 
Having  said  thus  much,  I  shall  forbear  in  future  to  return 
to  tliis  unpleasant  subject.' 


To  his  Brother-in-law, 

<  MucHAMiEL,  20th  October,  1812. 

'  The  Majorca  division  has  the  honour  of  occupying  all 
the  outposts  of  the  army.  I  am  just  returned  from  them, 
and  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity  of  a  vessel  going  to 
Cadiz  to  let  you  know  what  is  going  on.  We  have  had 
since  our  arrival  a  great  number  of  affairs  of  posts,  in  all 
of  which  my  troops  have  been  successful ;  and  have  in 
consequence  begun  to  form  a  character  which  I  hope  and 
trust  will  soon  be  established.  My  force  at  present  is 
rather  more  than  6,000  men  ;  but  I  expect  another  bat- 
talion from  Minorca  in  a  few  days,  which  will  complete 
my  force  to  7,000  men.*  I  have  besides  two  strong  bat- 
talions in  Majorca  clothed  and  formed  by  me,  which  the 
Captain-General,  Marquis  de  Compigny,  has  refused  to 
send  to  me.     But  I  have  written  to  Sir  Henry  Wellesley 

*  lie  was  only  a  Lieutenant-Colonel  in  the  British  service  then,  and  in 
that  capacity  could  not  have  expected  a  command  of  more  than  six  or  eight 
hundred  men. 


SUCCESSFUL   AFFAIRS   OF   POSTS.  167 

and  the  Spanish  Government  on  the  subject,  and  daily 
expect  their  positive  order  to  bring  them  here. 

'On  the  18th,  the  French  of  the  army  of  Suchet  fell 
back  from  Sax,  Villena,  and  Biar,  upon  Fuente  la  Higuera; 
and  from  Alcoy  upon  Concentayna,  Albayda,  and  San 
Felipe.  In  consequence  of  this  movement,  my  advanced 
posts  are  now  at  Sax,  Biar,  and  Alcoy. 

'  If  you  should  be  able  to  procure  me  a  good  strong 
hunter,  and  send  him  out  to  me  at  Cadiz,  or  at  Alicante, 
you  would  do  me  the  greatest  favour.  I  have  several  good 
horses,  but  not  one  of  right  good  confidence  for  a  long  day's 
action.  Hart  would,  I  dare  say,  undertake  the  commis- 
sion. I  wish  you  both  joy  of  your  success.  I  have  read 
Hart's  maiden  speech  with  delight.* 

Mr.  E.  H.  Davis  had  just  been  returned  for  the  first 
time  as  member  for  Bristol,  and  been  succeeded  at  Col- 
chester by  his  eldest  son,  whose  very  great  abilities  gave 
promise  of  a  brilHant  parliamentary  career,  which  was  too 
soon  frustrated,  by  the  state  of  his  health  compelling  him 
to  retire  from  parliament. 

General  Whittingham  soon  afterwards  cancelled  the 
commission  for  another  horse,  as  finding  the  expenses  of 
a  General  of  Division  were  already  beyond  his  means,  both 
public  and  private. 


To  the  Same. 

'  MuCHAMiEL,  ISth  December,  1812. 

'  I  advanced  a  few  days  since  with  the  whole  of  my 
division  on  Alcoy,  to  make  a  diversion  in  favour  of  Gene- 
ral Elio,  who  was  to  have  attacked  Eequena.  His  move- 
ment did  not  take  place  ;  and,  after  occupjring  Alcoy 
some  days,  I  received  orders  to  break  up,  and  to  reoccupy 
my  former  cantonments.  My  troops  have  in  charge  the 
whole  of  the  outposts  of  the  army.' 


168  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 


To  the  Same. 

*  Mtjchamiel,  2dth  Decemhet-y  1812. 

'  As  Sir  Henry  Wellesley  has  not  engaged  to  supply  me 
for  the  present  with  more  than  35,000  dollars  monthly — 
which  I  understand  he  gives  me  out  of  the  money  at  his 
disposal  for  the  service  of  Spain — I  much  fear  that 
nothing  will  be  done  in  regard  to  the  paymaster,  unless 
the  British  Government  should  agree  to  take  a  certain 
number  of  battalions  and  regiments  of  cavalry  into  their 
pay  ;  and  this,  I  should  suppose,  they  would  not  do 
without  consulting  Lord  Wellington.  I  am  not  aware 
that  Sir  Henry  has  ever  officially  desired  that  a  paymaster 
should  be  appointed  to  this  division.  I  should  think  that 
he  had  not.  But  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  I  should  pre- 
fer very  much  giving  up  the  command  altogether  to  the 
continuing  a  responsibility  which  sooner  or  later  will  in 
all  probability  reduce  me  to  beggary !  You  well  know 
the  money  I  have  spent  in  Spain.*  .  .  .  Thus, 
whilst  others  have  been  making  fortunes,  I  have  been 
spending  more  than  I  could  aiFord,  without  any  security 
that,  at  the  winding-up  of  the  peace,  the  complication  of 
long  and  difficult  accounts  may  not  ruin  my  character 
and  my  fortune.' 

On  the  30th  December,  he  states  that  he  had  forwarded 
to  Mr.  Wellesley  an  application  for  the  paymastership  of 
the  division  from  Captain  Foley,  and  a  prospect  of  relief 
from  an  unjust  and  intolerable  burden  closed  the  year 
1812. 

*  Out  of  his  private  fortune  he  means,  having  got  into  debt,  besides 
spending  all  his  private  income,  in  the  country.  He  had  afterwards  to  sell 
out  some  of  his  original  capital. 


LOKD  Wellington's  instructions.  169 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

1813. 
LORD  Wellington's  instructions — lord   Wellington  repttses  the 

INSPECTORSHIP  TO  GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM — THE  FRENCH  ATTEMPT  TO 
SURPRISE  XIGONA — TREACHERY  OF  AN  ITALIAN  REGIMENT — COLONEL 
WALKER  AND  OFFICERS  OF  H.M.'S  58tH  REGIMENT — LORD  WELLINGTON 
GRANTS  THE  PREVIOUSLY  REFUSED  INSPECTORSHIP — HIS  RELUCTANCE 
TO  THE  MEASURE — DIFFERENT  STYLE  ADOPTED  TO  ANOTHER  AGENT — 
GALLANT  CONDUCT  OF  THE  SPANISH  CAPTAIN  RUTI — GENEROUS  CON- 
DUCT OF  THE  FRENCH  CAPTORS — A  SUCCESSFUL  RUSE — A  BRAVE  SPANISH 
LIEUTENANT  —  THE  FRENCH  DRIVEN  BY  GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM 
THROUGH  THE  PASS  OF  ALBAYDA — GENERAL  MURRAY'S  TWO  GENERAL 
ORDERS — LORD  WELLINGTON'S  DISPATCH — GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM'S 
REPORT  TO  THE  AMBASSADOR  —  CONCENTAYNA  COMBAT  —  SIR  HENRY 
WELLESLEY'S  congratulations — LORD  WELLINGTON'S  PROOF  OF  CON- 
FIDENCE— THIRD  GENERAL  ORDER  PRAISING  WHITTINGHAM's  DIVISION 
— GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM's  REPORT  TO  SIR  JOHN  MURRAY — BATTLE 
OF  CASTALLA — SIR  JOHN  MURRAY'S  DISPATCH  TO  LORD  WELLINGTON — 
AT  CASTALLA  SPANIARDS  RIVALLED  THE  BRITISH — ANECDOTE  FROM 
THE   ^RECOLLECTIONS.' 


In  the  lOth  volume  of  the  '  Wellington  Dispatches '  there 
is  a  long  letter  from  Lord  Wellington  to  Major-General 
Whittingham,  dated  Cadiz,  8th  January,  1813.  Amongst 
Sir  Samford  Whittingham's  papers  there  was  found  a  kind 
of  condensed  extract  from  this  letter  (probably  made 
with  the  view  of  translating  it  for  the  benefit  of  the  offi- 
cers of  his  now  considerable  division)  comprising  all  that 
he  thought  necessary  to  publish,  and  which  will  doubtless 
also  be  sufficient  for  the  reader.  Lord  Wellington  was  a 
Spanish  grandee,*  and  Commander-in-Chief  at  this  time, 
of  the  Spanish,  as  well  as  of  the  British,  army  : — 

*  He  had  been  created  Duke  of  Ciudad  Kodrigo. 


170  MEMOIR   OP   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 


Copy  of  the  Order  of  His  Excellency  the  Duke  of  Ciudad 
Rodrigo  to  General  Whittingham,  dated  Cadiz^  Sth 
January,  1813. 

'  The  corps  of  troops  under  your  command  in  the 
Peninsula  is  one  of  those  which  I  am  desirous  should  be 
paid  out  of  the  funds  set  apart  by  Great  Britain  for  the 
support  of  the  Spanish  cause.  The  clothing,  arms,  and 
furniture  of  the  corps  under  your  orders  being  for  the 
account  of  Great  Britain,  the  said  funds  must  by  no  means 
be  applied  to  the  liquidation  of  those  charges.  Nor 
must  they  be  expended  in  provisions,  hospitals,  or  means 
of  transport,  as  these  branches  are  to  be  provided  for  by 
the  Spanish  Government,  in  the  same  manner  as  for  the 
other  Spanish  troops.  The  pay  of  absent  officers  and 
privates  must  likewise  be  for  the  account  of  the  Spanish 
Government ;  for  it  is  my  intention  that  nothing  be  paid 
out  of  the  said  funds  to  any  officer  or  private  not  ap- 
pearing on  the  monthly  returns  to  be  in  the  actual  dis- 
cliarge  of  his  duty.  The  pay  of  the  general  and  other 
officers  and  privates  of  your  division  present,  and  in  the 
actual  exercise  of  their  duty,  is  all  that  should  be  supplied 
put  of  those  funds. 

'You  will  send  on  the  20th  of  every  month  to  His 
Excellency  Sir  Henry  Wellesley,  an  estimate  of  the  money 
wanted  for  the  payment  of  the  officers  and  privates  under 
your  command  for  that  month,  on  the  principles  before 
expressed  ;  and  on  the  receipt  of  the  month's  pay,  whether 
the  produce  of  bills  or  otherwise,  you  will  distribute  it  in 
the  proper  proportions  to  the  individuals  entitled  thereto, 
taking  their  receipts,  which  will  be  your  discharge  for 
the  amount  received.  You  will,  however,  adopt  all 
necessary  means  to  ensure  the  just  application  of  these 
allowances  to  officers  and  privates,  according  to  the  regu- 
lations of  the  Spanish  service. 


LORD  Wellington's  instkuctions.  171 

*You  will  appoint  Patrick  Foley,  Esq.,*  to  be  Pay- 
master-General of  your  division.  He  will  take  the  detail 
of  this  service  under  his  direction  and  responsibihty ;  and 
as  all  payments  are  to  be  made  one  month  in  arrear,  you 
will  take  care  that  the  money  be  distributed  as  soon  as 
received,  as  beforesaid. 

'I  do  not  wish  the  division  under  your  orders  to 
exceed  6,000  effective  men  in  the  field.  In  order  to 
keep  up  this,  you  must  establish  a  depot  at  Alicante  ; 
and  I  will  take  care  that  you  shall  receive  the  pay  of 
7,000  men,  inclusively  of  such  as  are  in  hospital ;  for 
whom,  as  I  said  before,  the  Spanish  Government  must 
provide.' 

The  appointment  of  Captain  Foley  was  a  truly  great 
relief,  for  which  General  Whittingham  felt  grateful.  But 
a  few  days  later  he  received  a  letter  from  Lord  Welling- 
ton which  caused  him  much  vexation,  as  threatening  to 
nullify  that  independence  of  subordinate  Spanish  author- 
ities, which  from  the  incompetency  of  the  latter,  he 
considered  to  be  indispensable  to  the  efficiency  of  his 
division ; — 

The  Marquis  of  Wellington  to  Major-General 
Whittingham, 

*  Fkeneda,  19fh  February,  1813. 

'  Sir, — Sir  Henry  Wellesley  has  transmitted  to  me 
your  letter  of  the  3rd  January,  in  regard  to  your  holding 
the  office  of  inspector  of  the  division  of  Spanish  troops 
under  your  command,  and  to  the  abuses  and  inconve- 
niences to  which  your  troops  would  be  liable  in  case  your 
expectations  in  this  respect  were  disappointed ;  and 
having  conversed  with  the  Chief  of  the  staff,  and  with 
the  Inspectors-General  of  cavalry  and  infantry  on  this 

*  It  would  appea,r  that  Captain  Foley  was  no  longer  in  the  regular  army, 
when  he  obtained  his  new  appointment. 


172  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHA!kr. 

subject,  I  have  been  informed  by  each  of  those  officers 
that  it  was  particularly  settled  with  you,  that  when  the 
troops  under  your  command  should  serve  in  the  Penin- 
sula,* they  were  to  come  under  the  control  of  the  In- 
spector's office,  and  were  to  have  [Deputy]  Inspectors 
attached  to  them  in  the  same  manner  as  other  [Spanish] 
troops. 

'  This  being  the  case,  it  remains  to  be  considered 
whether,  adverting  to  the  inconveniences  to  which  joii 
refer,  it  is  proper  I  should  now  exempt  the  troops  under 
your  command  from  this  control.  Upon  this  point  I  have 
to  observe,  first,  that  I  hope  to  be  able  to  prevent  the 
abuses  of  which  you  complain,  as  well  as  of  others ; 
secondly,  that  even  if  I  should  not  succeed  entirely,  it  is 
not  worth  while  to  enter  into  the  disputes  and  complaints 
which  a  partial  departure  from  a  system  long  established 
in  the  Spanish  army  would  occasion. 

'I  have  therefore   desired   the  Inspectors-General  of 
infantry  and  cavalry  to   appoint  Deputy-Inspectors  for 
your  division,  and  I  beg  you  to  submit  to  their  control. 'f 
'  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  &:c., 

'  Wellington. 

'Major-General  Whittingham.' 

This  letter  was  a  truly  discouraging  one  to  General 
Whittingham,  but,  as  will  be  seen,  it  was  soon  rescinded. 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

<  San  Juan,  22nd  Fehmary,  1813. 

'Your  truly  amiable  and  excellent  friend  General 
Clinton  remained  only  a  very  short  time  in  command 
here.     Major-General  Campbell,  Adjutant-General  to  the 

♦  In  Majorca  he  had  had  the  full  powers  and  offices  of  Inspector,  both  of 
cavalry  and  infantry,  according  to  previous  agreement, 

t  These  orders  were  given  by  Lord  Wellington,  as  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  Spanish  armies. 


TREACHERY   OF   AN    ITALIAN   REGIMENT.  173 

army  in  Sicily,  arrived  soon  after  him  and  being  his  senior, 
the  command,  of  course,  devolved  upon  him. 

'  In  respect  to  the  operations  of  the  ensuing  campaigns, 
in  my  humble  opinion,  Lord  Wellington  himself  must 
open  it  before  this  army  can  do  anything  of  consequence. 
I  beg  leave  to  call  your  attention  to  the  judicious  position 
taken  up  by  Soult  at  Toledo,  where  he  has  his  head- 
quarters. He  is  in  the  centre  of  Lord  Wellington's  two 
lines  of  operations ;  and  as  his  force  is  extended  over  La 
Mancha,  he  would,  in  case  of  our  moving  forward  upon 
Valencia,  be  upon  our  left  flank  and  rear  before  any  as- 
sistance could  be  received  from  Lord  Wellington !  It  is 
therefore  my  opinion  that  his  Lordship  must  open  the 
campaign  himself,  and,  by  drawing  towards  him  the  mass 
of  the  French  force  enable  us  to  make  a  brilliant  and  de- 
cisive attack  upon  what  remains. 

'  The  French  attempted  a  few  nights  since  to  surprise 
Xigona,  which  is  one  of  our  outposts.  One  of  the  Italian 
regiments  raised  by  Lord  William  Bentinck  in  Sicily,  and 
composed  from  deserters  from  all  parts  of  the  world, 
formed  part  of  the  garrison  of  Xigona.  In  the  course  of 
forty-eight  hours  upwards  of  86  men  from  this  regiment 
had  passed  over  to  the  French ;  and  Colonel  Grant 
assured  me  that  it  was  his  opinion,  and  that  of  all  his 
officers,  that  none  of  the  men  could  be  depended  on ; 
and  that  it  was  his  and  their  opinion  that  if  they  were 
ordered  to  march  to  Alicante,  the  greater  part  of  them 
would  desert  on  the  road.  The  last  party  [of  deserters] 
had  taken  their  officer  witli  them ;  and  had  spared  his 
life  only  in  consequence  of  the  intercession  of  one  of  the 
corporals. 

'  All  circumstances  considered,  I  determined  to  send 
off  an  orderly  dragoon  to  General  Campbell,  requesting 
his  instructions  how  to  proceed.  The  general  came  in 
the  course  of  the  morning  to  Xigona,  and  directed  me 
to  disarm  the  regiment,  and  to  send  them  as  prisoners  to 


174  MEMOIR   OP   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

Alicante.  The  garrison  of  Xigona  consisted  of  my  bat- 
talion of  grenadiers  and  of  this  Italian  regiment.  On  the 
first  alarm  I  had  directed  the  battalion  of  Murcia  to  march 
to  Xigona ;  and  General  Campbell  had  ordered  the  1st 
battalion  27th  [Eegiment]  to  follow  them,  together  with 
a  squadron  of  the  20th  Dragoons.  About  half-past  five 
p.m.  the  British  troops  came  up.  The  Italian  regiment 
was  marched  into  an  open  space,  and  disarmed  without 
the  smallest  difficulty,  and  immediately  afterwards 
marched  oJBfto  Alicante,  escorted  by  the  27th  [Eegiment], 
the  squadron  of  dragoons,  and  my  battalion  of  Murcia. 
On  their  arrival  at  Alicante  they  were  all  sent  on  board 
ship. 

'  I  remained  at  Xigona  with  my  battalion  of  grenadiers  ; 
and  about  eight  p.m.  the  1st  battalion  of  the  58th  [British 
Regiment]  marched  in  by  Palomos,  by  General  Campbell's 
orders,  to  strengthen  the  post.  The  French  (who  were 
undoubtedly  in  concert  with  the  Italians,  but  who  knew 
nothing  of  what  had  passed)  determined  upon  attacking 
Xigona  that  night ;  and  at  seven  p.m.  Generals  Hubert 
and  Gudin  marched  from  Alcoy  with  1,500  infantry  and 
150  cavalry. 

'  At  half-past  two  a.m.  the  firing  of  the  outposts 
began.  The  troops,  both  Spanish  and  English,  were 
under  arms  with  admirable  celerity ;  and  every  disposi- 
tion was  taken  to  make  it  impossible  for  the  enemy  to 
force  the  post.  Our  outposts  were  after  some  time 
driven  in,  and  the  French  descended  to  the  ravine  ;  which 
they  could  not,  however,  pass  from  the  briskness  of  our 
fire.  They  then  extended  themselves  by  their  left  to  en- 
deavour to  open  a  communication  with  the  Italian  bar- 
racks' [which  they  still  believed  to  be  occupied  by  their 
friends]. 

'  Upon  the  first  glimpse  of  day  we  crossed  the  ravine 
with  the  light  companies  ;  and,  upon  ascending  the  hill 
on  the  other  side,  we  discovered  the  French  columns  more 


COLONEL  WALKER   AND   OFFICERS   OF   H.M.'s   SStH.      175 

than  half-way  up  the  mountain,  and  their  light  troops 
covering  their  rear.  They  had  probably  discovered  the 
change  which  had  taken  place  in  the  troops,  and  in  con- 
sequence [had]  begun  their  retreat  an  hour  before  day- 
light, leaving  only  a  few  light  troops  on  the  borders  of 
the  ravine,  being  well  assured  that  we  should  not  quit  the 
strong  position  we  occupied  to  attack  them  till  daylight 
should  enable  us  to  examine  their  force,  and  make  our 
dispositions  in  consequence.  I  had  the  satisfaction  of 
being  told  by  Lieut.-Colonel  [David]  Walker  and  the 
officers  of  the  58th  [Regiment]  that  he  and  they  should 
be  at  all  times  most  happy  to  serve  under  my  orders,  and 
that  they  were  all  satisfied  and  delighted  with  the  dis- 
positions that  I  had  made  that  night.*  We  took  six 
prisoners,  and  thus  ended  an  afiair  which  I  should  not 
have  thought  worth  relating  to  you,  but  for  the  provi- 
dential escape  we  all  had,  in  consequence  of  having  re- 
moved the  battalion  of  Italians  that  day.f  For,  had  the 
French  been  aided,  as  they  expected,  by  these  people,  the 
battalion  of  grenadiers  and  I  [myself]  must  have  been 
sacrificed  without  the  possibility  of  avoiding  it.  The 
worst  of  all  would  have  been  the  moral  effect  which  it 
would  have  produced  in  the  country;  where  it  would 
have  been  generally  believed  that  a  British  battahon  (for, 
being  dressed  in  scarlet,  they  would  have  been  supposed 
to  be  British)  had  fired  upon  the  Spaniards  and  joined  the 

*  What  enhances  this  compliment  is  the  fact  that  Col.  Walker  was 
considerably  the  senior  in  rank  in  the  British  service,  and  so  continued. 

t  In  the  Recollections,  it  is  said  that  '  Major  Bourke,  an  Irish  Austrian 
officer  of  twenty-five  years'  service/  commanded  the  first  battalion  of 
Italians  in  General  Whittingham's  division,  and  that  *  his  tact  and  judgment 
made  him  the  glory  and  pride  of  his  men.'  The  main  cause  on  the  other 
hand,  of  the  infamous  behaviour — as  recorded  in  the  text — of  the  2nd 
battalion  of  Italians,  was  attributed  to  '  Grant's  want  of  those  qualities,' 
which  ^  induced  him  to  adopt  all  the  minute  worry  of  the  old  British  school, 
and  made  him  cordially  detested  by  all  the  men  of  his  regiment.'  Unfortu- 
nately the  second  regiment  and  not  the  first  had  garrisoned  Xigona,  on  this 
occasion. 


176  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

French.     To  do  away  such  an  impression  would  have  been 
a  work  of  time  and  difficulty.' 

How  admirably  the  details  of  the  Majorca  division 
were  carried  on  in  active  service  is  shown  by  eight  docu- 
ments in  the  Editor's  possession.  Of  these  Spanish 
returns,  six  are  dated  Concentayna,  31st  August,  and  the 
other  two  dated  12th  August,  1813.  All  appear  to  be 
monthly  returns,  and  are  made  out  with  a  neatness  and 
precision  that  could  not  be  exceeded  by  the  orderly 
room  of  the  smartest  British  regiment  at  the  present  day. 

Colonel  Serrano,  General  Whittingham's  able  and 
trusted  chief  of  the  staff,  was  dispatched  to  Freneda, 
with  a  packet  of  letters,  to  undertake  the  by  no  means 
easy  task  of  persuading  the  victorious  chief  of  the 
British  and  Spanish  armies  to  rescind  the  order  which 
he  had  given  that  the  Majorca  division  was  to  submit 
to  Spanish  deputy-inspectors ;  and  thus  to  transfer  to 
tliese  officers  from  the  hands  of  General  Whittingham 
not  only  the  povv^er  of  rewarding  and  censuring  officers 
and  men,  but  also  of  recommending  them  for  promotion 
in,  or  appointments  to,  regiments  both  of  cavalry  and 
infantry. 

The  copy  of  the  '  duplicate  '  original  of  Lord  Welling- 
ton's reply  is  now  before  the  Editor.  It  is  written  in  a 
fair  clerk's  hand ;  and  though  an  important  letter  (revers- 
ing a  previous  decision),  is  merely  signed  by  Lord  Wel- 
lington, though  doubtless  he  either  wrote  out  the  original 
draft,  or  at  least  dictated  every  word  of  it  :* — 

*  Some  readers  will  consider  this  explanation  unnecessary.  But  the 
writer  has  met  with  civilians  of  intelligence  who  have  believed  that  all  the 
correspondence  Lord  Wellington  signed  was  sent  in  his  own  handwriting; 
a  task  which  wouM  have  put  to  shame  all  the  labours  of  Hercules ! 


LORD  WELLINGTON  GRANTS  THE  REFUSED  INSPECTORSHIP.  177 

Tke  Marquis  of  Wellington  to  Major- General 
Whittingham* 

(Duplicate.) 

^  Frenada,  1st  March,  1813. 

'  Sir, — I  have  had  the  honour  of  receiving  your  several 
letters  to  the  1st  February,  by  the  Chief  of  the  Staff  of 
your  division,  who  arrived  here  yesterday. 

'  In  answer  to  your  letter  of  the  26  th  January,  I  have 
to  inform  you  that  Captain  Grey  being  employed  on  the 
eastern  coast  of  Spain,  on  the  service  of  the  regiment  to 
which  he  belongs,  I  cannot  allow  him  to  serve  in  the 
Spanish  army. 

'  I  have  settled  with  the  inspectors-general  of  cavalry 
and  infantry,  that  you  shall  be  appointed  the  inspector  of 
both  arms  in  the  division  of  troops  under  your  command ; 
and  you  will  carry  out  that  duty  according  to  the  orders 
and  regulations  of  the  Spanish  Government. 

'  I  have  settled  with  the  inspectors  of  the  cavalry  to  draft 
the  Hussars  of  Aragon  and  the  regiment  of  Cuen^a  into 
the  regiment  of  Almanza  and  Olivenza.  This  draft  will 
make  those  regiments  over  complete  in  men ;  but  you 
will  dispose  of  the  horses  as  you  may  think  proper  among 
the  trained  men  of  the  regiment  as  already  formed  ;  and 
the  others  you  will  have  trained  either  in  Spain  or  Ma- 
jorca, until  I  shall  send  orders  for  the  disposal  of  them. 
— I  have  the  honour  to  be,  Sir, 

'  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

'  Wellington. 

'  Major- General  Whittingham.' 

Lord  Wellington,  who,  as  their  Commander-in-Chief, 
naturally  studied  to  please  the  Spaniards,  gave  the  above 
consent  most  reluctantly,  and  afterwards  refused  permis- 
sion to  act  on  it  as  a  precedent  in  the  case  of  others,  to 
Lord  Wilham  Bentinck,  on  his  Lordship's  application  for 

*   Wellington  Dispatches,  vol.  x.  p.  153. 

N 


178  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

that  purpose.  Could  Lord  Wellington  have  given  a 
greater  proof  of  the  confidence  and  esteem  which  he  en- 
tertained for  General  Whittingham  ? 

The  manner  in  which  Lord  Wellington  yielded  on  this 
occasion,  was  the  more  remarkable  from  the  impatience 
with  which  he  received  the  suggestions  and  remonstrances 
of  another  ISritish  Agent,  who  was  senior  in  rank  to 
General  Whittingham.  To  the  officer  in  question  he 
wrote  a  few  days  later  as  follows  : — 

'If  you  dislike  your  situation,  or  make  any  further 
difficulties  about  obeying  the  orders  you  receive,  or 
fail  to  carry  on  the  service,  you  must  either  resign  your 
command,  or  in  the  latter  case,  1  shall  recommend  to 
the  Government  that  another  officer  may  be  appointed 
to  it.'* 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham's  '  Eecollections '  contain  a 
dramatic  account  of  the  surprise  which  the  French  at- 
tempted at  Xigona.  But  there  were  some  (though  trifling) 
inaccuracies,  chiefly  of  names  of  persons,  which  occasioned 
the  preference  which  has  been  here  given  to  the  matter- 
of-fact  letter,  written  at  the  period  to  his  brother-in-law, 
over  the  more  picturesque  account  written  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  the  General's  nieces.  But  the  gallant  action  of 
one  of  his  own  trained  Spanish  officers  is  now  given  from 
the  '  Eecollections,'  in  which  alone  it  is  recorded  : — 

'  My  head-quarters  were  at  a  place  called  Muchamiel, 
about  three  miles  from  Alicante.  At  Xigona  I  had  a 
strong  detachment :  but  the  commander  of  the  forces 
directed  me  to  occup)^  Tibi,  a  village  on  the  farther  side 
of  the  mountain,  and  about  ten  miles  in  advance  of  Xigona. 
I  obeyed  much  against  my  will.  For  Tibi  was  an  in- 
sulated post,  totally  unconnected  with  my  chain,  and 
exposed  to  be  attacked   by   two   battalions   of  French 

*  Vol.  X.,  page  184,  of  the  Wellington  Dispatches. 


HEROIC   CONDUCT   OP   CAPTAIN    RUTI.  179 

infantry  at  Onteniente  on  the  right,  and  by  300  cavalry 
under  the  Baron  de  Lort  on  the  left.* 

'  I  selected  for  the  command  of  this  dangerous  post, 
Captain  Euti,  a  young  aide-de-camp  of  mine  of  great  pro- 
mise, to  whom  I  was  much  attached ;  and  I  placed  under 
his  orders  200  infantry,  and  50  hussars  of  his  own  regi- 
ment of  Almanza.  I  went  over  the  whole  ground  with 
Euti ;  and  pointed  out  to  him  the  danger  of  his  position, 
and  the  line  of  retreat  that  I  wished  him  to  follow,  and 
the  manner  in  which  it  should  be  conducted. 

'  Many  nights  had  not  elapsed  when  the  infantry  out- 
posts were  driven  in  by  a  very  superior  force.  But  the 
retreat  was  conducted  with  great  order  and  regularity  to 
the  plaza  of  Tibi,  where  Euti  waited  to  receive  them  at 
the  head  of  the  troop  of  the  Almanza  Hussars.  As  had 
been  previously  arranged,  the  infantry  then  retired  to  the 
entrance  of  the  pass  in  the  mountains,  which  led  to  Xigona, 
where  they  halted  and  formed  to  cover  the  retreat  of  the 
cavalry  through  the  defile. 

'  In  the  meantime  Euti  had  detached  a  subaltern  and 
ten  hussars  on  the  road  by  which  de  Lort  and  his  cavalry 
must  come,  with  orders,  on  falling  in  with  the  enemy,  to 
take  ground  to  his  left,  to  open  a  desultory  fire  to  detain 
the  movement,  and  to  dispatch  a  trusty  soldier  to  him 
(Euti)  at  Tibi.  The  order  was  perfect :  not  so,  the  exe- 
cution !  The  young  subaltern  in  command  of  the  party 
fell  in  with  the  enemy  as  expected,  remembered  to  take 
ground  to  his  left,  but  forgot  everything  else — for  he  sent 
no  report  to  Euti,  and  he  never  halted  till  he  arrived  at 
Tibi,  several  miles  distant.  Euti,  with  the  rest  of  his 
cavalry,  forty  hussars,  remained  formed  in  the  Plaza  till 
daylight ;  when  despairing  of  receiving  any  report  from 
his  detachment,  he  determined  upon  commencing  his  re- 

♦  Although  on  military  grounds  he  considered  the  order  unwise,  yet  he 
obeyed  it  without  any  expostulation.  He  alwa5^s  taught  that  the  Jirdy 
second^  and  third  duty  of  a  soldier  was  obedience  ! 

M  2 


180  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

treat  upon  his  infantry.  Scarcely,  however,  had  he  cleared 
the  village  when  he  saw,  drawn  up  across  the  only  road 
he  could  take,  four  lines  of  the  24th  French  dragoons,  to 
intercept  his  retreat  upon  Xigona. 

'  Euti  was  a  second  Chevalier  BayarcV^'  He  saw  the 
extent  of  his  danger,  but  he  felt  how  greatly  his  honour 
would  be  compromised  by  suffering  his  post  to  be  sur- 
prised, when  he  had  been  especially  selected  by  the 
General,  as  peculiarly  trustworthy.  He  did  not  hesitate, 
but,  briefly  addressing  his  men,  told  them  of  his  deter- 
mination to  charge,  and  asked  them  whether  they  would 
dare  to  follow  him.  They  all  shouted  Santiago,  y  a  ellos  ! 
[the  Spanish  war  cry,  "  St.  James,  and  have  at  them  "] 
and  Euti,  at  the  head  of  his  forty  hussars,  charged  and 
broke  through  the  first  line  of  French  dragoons  with  little 
or  no  loss.  The  second  line  was  broken  through  in  a 
similar  manner,  but  with  considerable  loss  ;  and  in  the 
charge  against  the  third  line,  Euti  fell  covered  with 
wounds.  His  head  was  dreadfully  cut  up  ;  and  a  sabre 
had  passed  through  his  body.  Still  the  charge  was  con- 
tinued ;  and  ultimately  eleven  out  of  the  party  joined  me 
at  Xigona  ! 

'  The  French  were  so  enchanted  at  the  daring  bravery 
displayed  by  Euti,  that  they  carried  him  on  a  litter  to 
Onteniente,  the  head-quarters  of  their  commandant ;  pro- 
cured for  him  the  best  medical  aid  ;  and  when  miracu- 
lously cured  of  his  wounds  they  sent  him  to  my  head- 
quarters. I  returned  the  compliment  by  restoring  to 
liberty  two  of  their  [the  French's]  comrades,  who  were  in 
my  power.  For  this  action  Euti  was  made  a  knight  of 
the  military  order  of  San  Fernando,f  and  shortly  after- 
wards promoted  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier  of  cavalry.' 

*  That  is,  'sans  petir  et  sans  reproche,''  the  very  words  applied  to  Sir 
Samford  Whittingham  himself  by  an  able  reviewer. 

t  This  order  consisted  of  Knights;  Knights-Commanders j  and  Knights- 
Grand-Crosa. 


AFFAIR   OF   CONCENTAYNA.  l8l 

The  affair  of  Concentayna  will  next  be  given  from  the 
'  Eecollections  ': — 

'  Not  long  after  this  splendid  skirmish,  a  general  advance 
took  place  ;  and  my  head-quarters  were  stationed  at  Al- 
coy.  Sir  John  Murray  had  now  taken  the  command  of 
the  army  at  Alicante ;  and  a  general  reconnoissance  to 
our  front  was  determined  on.  I  had  with  me  at  Alcoy 
five  battalions  of  infantry,  a  squadron  of  cavalry,  and  some 
mountain  guns  carried  by  mules  ;  and  on  the  morning  of 
the  reconnoissance  I  assembled  the  five  battalions,  the 
squadron  of  cavalry  (Cazadores  de  Olivencia)  and  two 
guns,  in  contiguous  close  columns,  near  to  Alcoy :  and 
gave  verbally  the  necessary  orders  for  the  advance. 

'  My  advanced  guard  consisted  of  the  whole  of  Colonel 
Campbell's  regiment  of  light  infantry  1,500  strong,  a  troop 
of  cavalry,  and  two  guns ;  and  was  supported  by  three 
battalions  of  infantry,  a  troop  of  cavalry,  and  two  moun- 
tain guns. 

'  Before  the  day  had  well  broken  we  fell  in  with  the 
French  advanced  posts,  which  occupied  a  wood  in  front 
of  Onteniente.  They  were  immediately  driven  back,  but 
rallied  on  their  reserves.  As  I  wished  to  ascertain  the 
strength  of  the  French  force  before  me,  I  determined  to  ap- 
pear to  give  way,  and  sounded  the  retreat.  This  brought 
the  French  on,  hand  over  hand — and  as  the  whole  of 
Campbell's  battalion  was  at  the  time  in  extended  order 
supported  by  the  three  battalion  columns,  the  length  of 
the  line  was  immense ;  and  the  left  being  too  much  thrown 
forward  was  in  some  danger  of  being  cut  off,  on  the  rapid 
and  sudden  advance  of  the  French. 

'  To  provide  against  this  evil  I  directed  the  troop  of 
Chasseurs  under  Lieutenant  Fernandez  to  charge  the 
centre  of  the  French  line,  whilst  my  bugles  sounded  : 
Change  front  on  the  centre  the  left  thrown  hack.  This 
movement  was  executed  as  beautifully  and  correctly  as  it 
could  have  been  done  on  parade,  whilst  the  sabre  of  Fer- 


182  MEMOIR  OF  SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

nandez  almost  divided  in  two  a  soldier  who  ventured  to 
oppose  him.  Every  little  error  being  rectified  we  con- 
tinued our  retreat  to  where  the  attack  had  commenced. 

'  Having  thus  led  the  French  to  show  what  their  force 
really  was,  I  determined  to  drive  them  from  their  present 
position  and  beyond  the  pass  of  Albayda.  Accordingly 
we  again  advanced  with  the  whole  of  the  light  infantry 
in  extended  order,  supported  as  before  stated ;  and  we 
drove  the  enemy  at  double  quick  [time],  from  tree  to 
tree,  till  he  was  clear  of  the  wood,  at  the  extremity  of 
which  his  line  was  formed. 

'  A  momentary  halt,  which  I  unavoidably  made,  to  give 
orders  as  to  the  occupying  a  road  on  our  right,  which  led 
to  the  head-quarters  of  General  Abert,  enabled  one  of  the 
French  sharpshooters  to  take  good  aim  at  my  head  and  to 
hit  me  on  the  right  side  of  my  mouth.  My  former  wound 
was  on  the  left  side.  This  last,  however,  was  only  a  flesh 
wound,  and  I  had  no  time  to  attend  to  it.  Our  advance 
through  the  wood  was  most  brilliant  and  as  soon  as  we 
had  cleared  it,  our  guns  were  instantly  in  position ;  and 
the  two  first  shots  directed  by  Captain  Arabin*  plunged 
into  the  centre  of  the  French  line,  and  created  consider- 
able confusion.  I  forthwith  ordered  a  general  advance 
of  all  the  troops  under  my  command ;  nor  was  there  any 
further  check  till  we  had  conducted  the  French  through 
the  pass  of  Albayda. 

'  [General]  Abert's  force  and  mine  were  nearly  equal, 
each  consisting  of  about  4,000  bayonets.' 

Here  at  last  Spanish  troops,  unaided  by  British  soldiers 
(except  their  EngHsh  chief,  and  the  Scotch  Colonel),  had 
under  skilful  guidance,  proved  more  than  a  match  for 
veteran  French  warriors.     The  disgusts  and  the  labours 

*  Captain  Arabin  died  as  Colonel  Arabin,  in  command  of  the  Royal 
Artillery  at  Bermuda,  on  tbe  17th  August,  1843.  On  the  8th  April,  1847, 
the  eldest  son  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  married  Eliza,  the  eldest 
daughter  of  Colonel  Arabin. 


GENERAL  ORDERS  OF  SIR  JOHN  MURRAY.     183 

experienced  at  Majorca  were  here  at  last  repaid  by  unde- 
niable fruits  on  the  two  occasions  narrated ;  and  which 
were  to  be  officially  acknowledged  without  delay : — 

'  General  Order. 

*  Head  Quarters,  ALCor,  Sth  March,  1813. 

'  In  the  attack  which  took  place  yesterday,  Lieutenant- 
General  Sir  John  Murray  received  particular  satisfaction 
from  observing  the  brilliant  conduct  of  the  Spanish  troops 
engaged;  and  he  begs  General  Whittingham  will  make 
known  his  approbation  in  the  strongest  terms  to  the 
officers,  and  desire  them  to  communicate  his  sentiments 
to  the  troops. 

'  Thomas  Molloy, 

^Assistant  Adjutant-General.' 

The  above  referred  to  the  Xigona  affair.  That  of  Con- 
centayna,  or  the  Puente.de  Albayda,  deserved  and  received 
warmer  acknowledgment : — 

'  General  Order. 

^  Head  Quarters,  Alicante,  Vlth  Marchj  1813. 

'  No.  2. — Lieutenant-General  Sir  John  Murray  has  again 
to  draw  the  attention  of  the  army  to  the  spirit  and  gal- 
lantry with  which  the  Spanish  division  of  Major-General 
Whittingham  conducted  itself  on  the  15th  instant. 

'  The  attack  on  that  side  was  much  more  serious  ;  but 
by  the  able  dispositions  of  Major-General  Whittingham, 
and  the  bravery  with  which  he  was  supported,  the  enemy 
was  driven  from  his  positions,  and  pursued  with  great  loss 
as  far  as  the  Major-General  thought  expedient. 

'  Lieutenant-General  Sir  John  Murray  requests  Major- 
General  Whittingham  to  acquaint  the  corps  engaged, 
how  much  their  steadiness  and  general  good  conduct  is 
approved. 

'  G.  A.  Harzenbuhler, 

*  Assistant  Adjutant-General.' 


184  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

The  Marquis  of  Wellington  to  Earl  Batliurst* 
(Extract.) 

<  Freneda,  7th  April,  1813. 

'  Since  the  movement  made  by  Lieu  tenant-General  Sir 
John  Murray,  of  which  I  enclosed  the  report  in  my  last 
dispatch,  it  appears  that  Marshal  Suchet  has  collected  his 
troops  on  the  right  of  the  Jucar,  and  has  established  his 
head-quarters  at  San  Felipe  de  Xativa.  General  Whitting- 
ham's  division  of  Spanish  troops  had  driven  the  enemy's 
advanced  guard  beyond  the  Puente  de  Albayda.*f 

As  military  agent  General  Whittingham  wrote  an  offi- 
cial account  of  the  action  of  Concentayna  to  the  Ambas- 
sador : — 

His  Excellency  the  Eight  Hon.  Sir  Henry  Wellesley,  K.B. 

'  Alcoy,  16^  March,  1813. 

*  Sir, — I  have  the  honour  to  infonn  your  Excellency 
that,  in  consequence  of  orders  from  Lieu  tenant-General 
Sir  John  Murray  directing  me  to  make  a  strong  recon- 
naissance on  the  enemy's  force  near  Concentayna,  I  ad- 
vanced from  this  at  3  o'clock  yesterday  morning,  with  the 
greater  part  of  the  division  of  Majorca. 

.  '  T  also  directed  Lieutenant-Colonel  Bourke  command- 
ing the  1st  Italian  Eegiment,  which  was  in  La  Sarga,  to 
occupy  Alcoy  with  his  battalion  at  daylight ;  and  having 
situated  the  regiments  of  Murcia  and  Cordova  with  two 
four-pounders,  and  a  howitzer  in  a  position  previously 
marked  out,  about  half  a,  league  beyond  Alcoy  on  the 
Concentayna  road,  in  front  of  a  ravine  (on  which  we  had 
constructed  some  rough  breastworks,  and  cut  the  bridge 
across  it  so  as  only  to  allow  one  man  at  a  time  to  pass); 

*  Wellington  Dispatches,  vol.  x.  p.  272. 

t  Except  an  allusion  to  General  Donkin's  successful  reconnoissance  this 
little  dispatch  of  the  Duke's  is  all  in  honour  of  General  Whittingham's  two 
successful  affairs  previously  to  the  battle  of  Castalla. 


GENERAL  WHITTINGIIAM'S  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  ACTION.    185 

I   marclied   out   with   the   remainder   in   the   following 

order :  * — 

Advanced  Guard. 

3  companies  of  Cazadores  de  Mallorca  •.         Commandmg  Officer, 

Light  company  of  Murcia  I    ^^.^^^  _^^^^^^^  ^^       ^^ 

Light  company  of  Cordova  Cazadores  de  Mallorca. 

1  Subaltern  and  10  Dragoons  of  Olivencia      J 

Column. 
5  companies  of  Cazadores  de  Mallorca  "i 

2  English  mountain  four-pounders  I  Commanding  Officer, 
5th  battalion  of  Grenadiers  |  Colonel  Campbell.t 
1  Cap.  1  Sub",  and  25  Dragoons  of  Olivencia  J 

'  On  arriving  near  Concentayna,  I  posted  the  grenadier 
battahon  on  a  rising  ground  commanding  the  entrance  to 
the  town ;  the  advanced  guard  entered  it ;  and  Colonel 
Campbell  formed  the  rest  of  his  regiment  in  close  column 
in  the  road  leading  into  Concentayna. 

'  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mouet  passed  through  the  town, 
and  proceeded  on  by  the  high  road  to  Albayda ;  and,  a 
few  minutes  before  sunrise,  fell  in  with  an  advanced  post 
of  the  enemy  at  the  Cruz  de  Valencia,  about  half  a  mile 
from  Concentayna.  This  advanced  [French  party]  fell 
back  on  the  next  post,  followed  by  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Mouet's  skirmishers  ;  and  the  enemy,  having  sent  forward 
reinforcements,  there  was  a  very  warm  fire  kept  up  on 
both  sides,  during  which  Mouet  drove  the  enemy  before 
him  for  more  than  a  mile ;  when  the  French  having  con- 
siderably reinforced  their  skirmishers,  and  having  drawn 
up,  in  position,  a  battalion  of  about  600  infantry  and  150 
dragoons,  I  directed  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mouet  to  retire 
slowly  towards  Concentayna,  in  the  hope  of  drawing  the 
enemy  from  his  position. 

'  Colonel  Campbell  at  the  same  time  moved  forward 
with  the  five  companies  of  his  regiment  in  close  column 
and  [with]  one  of  the  mountain  four-pounders  under  the 

*  Official  military  letters  are  apt  to  scorn  full  stops,  and  to  prolong  sen- 
tences into  pages,  that  they  may  be  both  written  and  read  with  rapidity. 
t  Patrick  Campbell,  then  Colonel  in  the  Spanish  service. 


186  MEMOIR  OF   SIR  S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

command  of  Captain  Arabin  of  the  British  artillery.  The 
dragoons  of  Ohvencia,  with  some  light  infantry  moved  by 
the  right  flank  along  the  road  to  Muro,  and  occupied 
Alcudieta ;  where  the  commanding  oflScer  was  informed 
that,  as  soon  as  the  firing  began,  the  [French]  troops 
which  were  in  Mm-o  and  the  neighbourhood,  had  posted 
themselves  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill  near  the  Puerto  de 
Albayda  *  The  column  having  come  up  near  the  rear 
of  the  advance,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Mouet  again  drove 
the  enemy  before  him,  followed  by  the  column,  which, 
with  the  four-pounders,  having  arrived  within  five  or  six 
hundred  yards  of  the  enemy,  halted ;  when  Captain  Arabin 
opened  a  well-directed  fire  on  the  enemy's  battalion,  which, 
after  a  few  rounds,  retired  towards  the  Puerto  de  Albayda. 
Having  thus  fulfilled  Sir  John  Murray's  instructions,  I 
directed  Colonel  Campbell  and  Lieutenant- Colonel  Mouet 
to  fall  back  on  their  former  position,  which  was  done 
without  the  least  molestation  on  the  part  of  the  enemy. 
The  firing  began  about  six  in  the  morning,  and  lasted  till 
half-past  ten  in  the  forenoon. 

'The  enemy's  loss,  as  I  understand  from  different  de- 
serters who  have  since  come  in,  is  about  sixty  men,  and 
two  horses  killed  and  wounded.  We  have  counted  four- 
teen dead  bodies  and  two  horses.  On  my  part  not  a  man 
killed,f  [but]  one  captain  and  fwe  privates  of  the  Caza- 
dores  de  Mallorca,  and  two  privates  of  the  light  company 
of  Murcia  are  wounded ;  and  I  have  received  a  musket- 
shot  in  the  right  cheek. 

'  I  have  every  reason  to  be  highly  satisfied  with  the 
gallantry  and  coolness  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the 

*  Puente  de  Albayda  it  is  called  in  the  Wellington  Dispatches ;  that  is, 
bridge  instead  of  gate.  Gurwood  took  such  trouble  and  pains  in  fixing  the 
proper  spelling,  and  general  correctness  of  the  Spanish  words,  that  probably 
Puente  is  right. 

t  No  doubt  the  rapidity  of  the  attack  and  pursuit  (leaving  the  enemy 
little  of  the  leisure  and  coolness  necessary  for  good  firing)  was  the  cause 
that  the  victors  suflered  so  little.  But  of  the  few  wounded  the  General 
was  one. 


SIR   H.    WELLESLEY's   REPLY.  187 

division  under  my  command ;  who,  on  this  as  on  every 
other  occasion,  have  most  completely  acted  up  to  my 
expectations,  and  fulfilled  the  duty  [which]  they  owe  [to] 
their  country. 

'  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  your  Excellency's  most 
'  obedient  and  humble  servant, 

'  Samford  Wiiittingham.' 

To  conclude  the  Concentayna  ajQTair,  the  Ambassador's 
reply  is  here  inserted  at  once  : — 

Sir  Henry  Wellesley  to  Major-General  Whittingham. 

*  Cadiz,  1st  April,  1813. 

'  Sir, — I  have  the  honour  to  acknowledge  the  receipt 
of  your  letters  of  the  16th  and  19th  ultimo,  which  reached 
me  this  morning ;  and  it  is  with  the  most  sincere  satisfac- 
tion that  I  now  congratulate  you  upon  the  signal  proofs 
afforded  by  the  conduct  of  your  corps  in  the  several  affairs 
in  which  it  has  been  engaged,  of  the  efficacy  of  your 
exertions  to  bring  it  to  perfection.  I  shall  not  fail  to 
transmit  to  Lord  Wellington  a  copy  of  your  letter  to  me, 
and  another  copy  for  information  of  the  Government  of 
His  Eoyal  Highness  the  Prince  Eegent. 

'  I  am  very  happy  to  learn  that  the  wound  which  you 
have  received  is  not  of  a  nature  to  deprive  the  country  of 
your  services  in  the  field  for  any  considerable  time. 

'  I  will  endeavour  to  obtain  an  order  to  the  Marquis 
of  Compigny  to  the  effect  mentioned  in  your  letter  of  the 
19th  March.*  I  will  also  use  my  utmost  endeavours  to 
procure  the  confirmation  of  Colonel  O'Reilly  in  the  com- 
mand of  the  5th  battalion  of  Grenadiers. 

'  I  have,  &c., 

'  H.  Wellesley.' 

*  The  letter  of  the  19th  is  one  of  many  letters  too  numerous  for  inser- 
tion in  this  work.  It  complained  that  the  Marquis,  then  Captain-General 
of  the  Balearic  Islands,  kept  back  in  Majorca  troops  of  General  Whitting- 
ham's  division  that  should  have  been  sent  to  join  the  latter. 


188  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  At  page  297,  vol.  x.,  of  the  '  Wellington  Dispatches,' 
there  is  a  long  memorandum  written  by  his  Lordship, 
(dated  '  14th  April,  1813  '),  regarding  the  coming  opera- 
tions on  the  eastern  coast,  which  frequently  refers  to  the 
Majorca  division  :  but  of  which  only  one  sentence  will 
here  be  quoted,  namely — the  last  paragraph : — 

'  If  General  Sir  John  Murray's  allied  British  and  Sicilian 
corps,  and  the  whole  or  part  of  General  Whittingham's 
division  should  embark,  General  the  Duque  del  Parque 
will  direct  the  operations  ordered  in  this  memorandum  to 
be  carried  on  in  the  kingdom  of  Valencia ;  but,  in  either 
case,  the  general  officers  commanding  the  first,  second, 
and  third  armies,  and  General  Whittingham,  must  com- 
mand each  their  separate  corps.' 

This  was  putting  a  General  of  division  on  the  footing 
of  a  General  commanding  an  army,  as  subordinate  only 
to  the  actual  Commander  of  the  Forces — a  strong  mark 
of  confidence.  This  was  written  a  fortnight  before  Lord 
Wellington  received  Sir  John  Murray's  report  of  the  battle 
of  Castalla,  which  established  yet  higher  the  reputation  of 
the  Majorca  division. 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

*  Division,  Majorca  Head  Quarters,  Alcoy,  l^th  March,  1813. 

'  My  dear  Davis, — I  enclose  an  account  of  an  affair 
which  took  place  on  the  15th.  You  will  see  with  plea- 
sure that  the  division  has  been  twice  thanked  in  General 
Orders. 

'  As  my  wound  is  painful,  though  not  in  the  least  dan- 
gerous, pray  send  a  copy  of  the  enclosed  to  Colonel 
Torrens,  and  beg  him  to  excuse  my  writing. 

'  The  French  have  fifteen  battalions  in  my  front,  at  Al- 
bayda  and  San  Felipe.     Our  army  is  concentrating  itself, 
and  a  few  days  will,  I  hope,  bring  on  a  general  action,  at 
which,  I  thank  God,  I  shall  still  be  able  to  play  my  part. 
'  Best  love  to  all,  and  believe  me,  ever  yours, 
'Samford  Whittingham.' 


BATTLE  OF    CASTALLA.  189 

Tlie  battle  of  Castalla  was  fought  and  won  on  the  13th 
April,  1813,  by  the  allied  English  and  Spanish  troops ; 
but  mainly  by  two  corps  of  that  army  ;  namely,  one  of 
Englishmen  under  Colonel  Adam,*  which  gained  the  chief 
honours  of  the  day  ;  and  the  other  of  Spaniards  under 
Major-General  Whittingham,  who  proved  themselves 
worthy  of  fighting  with  British  soldiers,  and  contributed 
largely  to  the  successful  result. 

But  let  the  Commander-in-Chief  on  that  day  have,  as 
is  right,  the  first  word  :  — 

'  General  Order. 

^  Head  Quarters^  Castalla,  lUh  April,  1813. 

'  Lieutenant-General  Sir  John  Murray  congratulates  the 
army  he  has  the  honour  to  command,  on  the  result  of  the 
action  which  took  place  yesterday.  Marshal  Suchet  col- 
lected his  whole  force,  for  the  express  purpose  of  de- 
stroying this  army ;  trusting  to  the  good  fortune  which 
had  hitherto  attended  his  arms.  He  has  been  defeated, 
and  forced  to  retreat,  by  a  small  portion  of  it. 

'  The  Lieutenant-General  requests  the  officers  and  sol- 
diers of  the  corps  engaged  to  accept  his  best  thanks  for 
their  gallantry ;  and  assures  them,  that  he  will  not  fail  to 
draw  the  attention  of  his  Eoyal  Highness  the  Prince 
Eegent,  and  of  the  Spanish  Government,  to  the  bravery, 
spirit,  and  discipline  displayed. 

'  As  the  reports  from  the  officers  commanding  divisions, 
of  what  immediately  passed  under  their  direction,  have 
not  yet  reached  the  Lieutenant-General,  he  is  obhged  to 
defer  the  just  tribute  of  applause  to  those  corps  and  in- 

*  Colonel  Adam,  of  the  21st  Foot,  (afterwards  Sir  Frederick  Adam, 
K.C.B.,  G.C.M.G.,)  was  far  senior  in  the  British  ar-my  to  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Whittingham ;  for  on  the  same  4th  of  June,  1814,  on  which  the  latter  was 
made  a  Colonel,  the  former  was  gazetted  a  Major-General.  It  was  not  till 
1825,  that  Whittingham  became  a  Major-General  in  the  British  service. 
Sir  F.  Adam  was  the  second  Lord  High  Commissioner  of  the  Ionian 
Islands. 


190  MEMOIR  OP   SIR   S.  P.  WHITTINGHAM. 

dividuals  who  have  been  fortunate  enough  to  find  an 
opportunity  of  distmguishing  themselves.  But,  from 
Sir  John  Murray's  own  observation,  he  is  fully  autho- 
rized to  hold  up  to  every  army  in  Europe  the  conduct 
of  Colonel  Adam  and  his  brave  corps,  on  the  12th  and 
13th  instant,  as  an  example  worthy  of  applause  and 
imitation;  and  he  has  the  satisfaction  of  expressing  a 
no  less  degree  of  approbation  of  the  conduct  of  Major- 
General  Whittingham  and  his  gallant  troops  in  the  action 
of  the  13th* 

'  The  Lieutenant-General  has  much  satisfaction  in  con- 
veying his  approbation  of  the  spirit  displayed  by  every 
other  part  of  the  army  on  the  12th  and  13th  instant.  They 
had  not  the  fortunate  lot  of  the  advance,  and  of  General 
Whittingham  ;  but  it  was  evident  that  had  the  enemy 
waited  the  attack  on  the  13th,  in  the  plains  of  Castalla, 
that  he  would  have  found  the  same  spirit  to  have  existed 
throughout  the  whole  allied  army. 

'  The  Lieutenant-General  has  experienced,  ever  since 
he  has  held  this  honourable  command,  every  support  and 
assistance  from  the  general  officers  and  brigadiers  f  of  the 
army ;  and  he  is  happy  that  an  opportunity  has  been 
afforded  him  of  expressing  that  gratitude  which  he  deeply 
feels.  Nor  is  he  less  indebted  to  the  general  staff  of  the 
army,  for  their  cordial  support,  and  the  cheerful  alacrity 
with  which  every  part  of  the  service  is  performed.  In 
mentioning  the  general  staff  of  the  army  Sir  John  Murray 
feels  that  he  would  be  wanting  in  justice  if  he  omitted 
the  name  of  Major-General  Donkin,  to  whom  he  is  more 
particularly  indebted.  Tlie  Lieutenant-General  has  now 
only  pointedly  to  express  his  approbation  of  the  artillery 
corps  engaged  in  every  part,  and  to  assure  Captain  Arabin 

*  Thus  three  times  in  five  weeks  was  the  Majorca  division  praised  in 
General  Orders. 

t  Colonel  Adam  appears  to  have  been  one  of  these  Brigadiers,  as  he  is 
described  as  commanding  a  body  of  troops.  He  was  Lieut.-Colonel  of  the 
21st  llegiment  of  Foot,  the  North  British  Fusiliers. 


GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM'S  REPORT  TO  SIR  JOHN  MURRAY.    191 

that,  SO  far  from  finding  the  shghtest  grounds  of  censure 
for  the  loss  of  the  two  mountain  guns,  he  highly  approved 
the  spirit  and  motive  which  induced  him  to  keep  them  in 
their  position,  till  it  became  impossible,  in  their  crippled 
state  to  remove  them. 

'  Deeply  as  every  soldier  feels  the  loss  of  a  brave  com- 
rade who  may  fall,  it  is  a  consolation  to  think  that  the 
allied  army  has,  in  comparison  with  that  of  the  enemy, 
suffered,  in  numbers  at  least,  a  trifling  loss. 
'Thomas  Kenagh, 

*  Assistant  Adjutant-General.' 

General  Whittingham's  official  report  was  as  follows  : — 

To  His  Excellency  the  General-in-Chief  of  the  Allied 

Army. 

^  Camp  of  Guekka,  lUh  Ap7'il,  1813. 

'Sir, — Yesterday  the  13th,  in  consequence  of  your 
Excellency's  orders  communicated  to  me  by  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  CatineUi,  I  marched  at  mid-day  by  my  left,  from 
my  position  on  the  heights  of  Guerra,  with  the  5th  bat- 
talion of  Grenadiers,  the  2nd  of  Murcia,  and  that  of  the 
Cazadores  of  Majorca,  by  the  road  of  the  Montana,  which 
joins  that  of  Sax;  prolonging  the  left  of  the  line,  and 
leaving  in  my  position  the  1st  battalion  of  Cordova  and 
the  2nd  of  Burgos,  under  Colonel'Juan  Eomero. 

'  After  marching  about  -half  an  hour  I  received  a  mes- 
sage from  Major  Guerra  (whom  I  had  left  with  two  com- 
panies covering  the  heights  of  Nadal)  informing  me  that 
three  columns  of  the  enemy  were  forming  at  the  foot  of 
his  position,  and  were  preparing  to  attack  him.  I  imme- 
diately ordered  Colonel  Serrano,  chief  of  my  staff,  to  march 
rapidly  and  place  the  2nd  Eegiment  of  Murcia  [so  as]  to 
support  Major  Guerra ;  giving  positive  orders  to  Colonel 
Casans  that  the  post  should  be  defended  at  whatever  cost, 
and  that  he  should  proceed  to  the  heights  of  Guerra,  and 


192  MEMOIR    OP   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

acquaint  me  with  the  state  of  that  point.  The  lire  was 
already  general  along  the  line ;  and  observing  that  the 
enemy  was  possessing  himself  of  the  last  height  on  the 
left — from  whence  he  might  flank  those  on  the  Nadal,  I 
ordered  Colonel  Campbell,  of  the  Majorca  Cazadores,  to 
obtain  possession  of  that  height  with  two  companies  ; 
which  he  accomplished  most  promptly  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet.  Leaving  the  remainder  of  this  corps  on  this 
part  of  the  line,  I  hastened  with  the  5th  Eegiment  of 
Grenadiers  back  to  the  position  on  the  heights  of  Guerra, 
which  was  now  vigorously  attacked.  On  my  march  I 
received  a  verbal  communication  from  Colonel  Serrano, 
informing  me  that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  strengthen 
that  point  with  more  troops,  as  Colonel  Eomero,  with  the 
Cordova  and  Burgos  Eegiments,  was  sorely  pressed,  and 
required  support.  The  moment  I  arrived,  I  formed  the 
grenadiers  into  two  columns  on  the  Hat  on  the  top  of  the 
heights  of  Guerra,  fronting  the  two  most  accessible  points, 
and  against  w^hich  the  attacks  were  principally  directed. 
A  strong  column  of  French  grenadiers  had  taken  the 
height  of  Sarratella,  with  another  still  stronger  [column] 
of  fusiliers  on  their  right.  I  ordered  the  reserves  to  ad- 
vance, Eomero  maintained  himself  on  the  first  line  with 
great  firmness.  After  a  very  obstinate  fight  on  both  sides, 
the  enemy  determined  to  attack  with  the  bayonet ;  his 
first  column  [advancing]  by  the  crest  of  the  mountain  ; 
the  second,  lower,  down,  by  the  opening  of  Palhser. 

'  I  immediately  directed  Lieutenant-Colonel  Ochoa  to 
advance  with  our  reserve,  and  sustain  the  first  point ;  and 
Colonel  Serrano  took  the  other  (commanded  by  Major 
Ontiveros)  by  his  left  to  cover  the  opening  of  Palhser. 
The  enemy  advanced  boldly  to  the  edge  of  the  position  ; 
but  the  reserves  immediately  deployed,  and  advanced  to 
the  charge  with  so  much  spirit  (supported  by  the  troops 
of  the  first  line)  that  the  enemy  was  overthrown  and  put 
into  the  greatest  confusion  ;  nor  could  he  again  form  until 


BATTLE    OF    CASTALLA.  193 

he  had  returned  to  his  position  on  the  summit  of  the  hill 
of  Doncel. 

'  Colonel  Casans  of  the  2nd  Eegiment  of  Murcia,  to 
whom,  as  already  mentioned,  I  had  trusted  the  command 
of  the  left,  was  attacked  by  upwards  of  800  men  in  strong 
skirmishing  parties,  supported  by  a  column  of  grenadiers 
and  chasseurs,  and  a  numerous  reserve.  But  this  officer 
ordered  his  grenadiers  and  cazadores  to  advance  and  sup- 
port the  Majorca  Eegiment,  which  was  warmly  attacked  ; 
and  with  that  of  Murcia,  in  the  post  of  011a  Eedonda,  the 
cazadores  of  the  5th  Grenadiers,  and  the  1st  of  Guada- 
laxara  kept  up  a  steady  fire ;  which  the  enemy  notwith- 
standing disregarded,  [being]  resolved  to  break  the  line. 
But  Colonel  Casans  having  brought  out  his  reserves,  and 
given  the  command  of  his  right  to  Major  Bascon,  of  his 
left  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  M.  Sas,  and  of  his  centre  to 
Major  Guerra,  they  kept  up  the  fire  till  half-past  four  in 
the  afternoon ;  when,  annoyed  by  the  obstinacy  of  the 
enemy,  Colonel  Casans  ordered  the  before  mentioned 
troops,  with  four  companies  of  the  cazadores  of  Majorca, 
to  charge  with  the  bayonet ;  which  they  did  immediately 
with  such  a  countenance  that  the  French  dared  not  await 
them,  but  fled  shamefully,  and  with  too  much  expedition 
to  allow  our  men,  who  were  much  fatigued,  to  make  many 
prisoners. 

'  I  can  assure. your  Excellency  that  the  force  with  which 
the  enemy  attacked  [us]  was  greatly  superior  to  mine ; 
and  that,  after  a  most  obstinate  conflict  of  three  hours  and 
a  half,  he  was  repulsed  at  the  same  time  on  the  whole 
line,  leaving  the  field  covered  with  his  dead. 

'  I  subsequently  received  your  Excellency's  orders  to 
move  my  line  forward,  in  proportion  as  the  other  troops 
of  the  army  should  advance.  As  soon  as  I  perceived 
the  general  movement,  I  left  Colonel  Casteras  with  the 
battalion  of  Burgos  in  the  position,  and  advanced  with  the 

o 


194  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

5th  Grenadiers  and  the  1st  of  Cordova,  covering  my  front 
with  two  companies  of  Majorca  as  skirmishers. 

'  I  marclied  in  this  order  to  the  summit  of  Doncel,  fol- 
lowing the  first  line  'of  the  English  troops,  on  which  my 
right  leaned.*  At  the  same  time  I  sent  by  my  left,  by  the 
Montana  del  Aquila,  Colonel  Casans  with  the  regiments  of 
Murcia  and  Majorca,  strengthened  by  his  Britannic  Ma- 
jesty's 1st  Itahan  battalion,  with  the  view  of  flanking  the 
enemy's  right ;  which  they  accomplished  by  descending 
into  the  plain,  and  taking  the  direction  of  Monte  de  los 
Zerres.  The  skirmishers  were  charged  at  the  foot  of  that 
hill  by  a  detachment  of  the  enemy's  cavalry,  which  they 
succeeded  in  repulsing  with  loss,  when  the  whole  column 
halted,  on  the  approach  of  night,  and  returned  to  its 
position,  by  your  Excellency's  orders. 

'  To  your  Excellency  I  particularly  recommend,  in  the 
strongest  terms,  Colonel  Serrano,  Chief  of  my  Staff,  to 
whose  exertions,  valour,  and  knowledge,  is  owing  much 
of  the  success  of  this  day.  I  also  particularly  recommend 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Catanelli,  who  was  in  the  whole  of  the 
action  and  gave  much  assistance.  The  second  adjutant  of 
the  General  Staff,  and  the  assistants,  Don  Joseph  Serrano 
and  Don  Samuel  Alvares,  Colonel  Gelabert,  quartermaster- 
general.  Captain  Montenegro,  of  the  engineers,  and  my 
aide-de-camp,  Don  Antonio  Euti,  and  the  Baron  de  Hal- 
berg,  completely  fulfilled  their  duties  and  carried  my  orders 
with  the  greatest  dispatch  and  precision. 

*  The  spirit  and  correctness  of  the  officers  of  my  division 
have  been  so  distinguished,  that  I  must  in  justice  call  your 
Excellency's  attention  to  the  conduct  of  Colonels  Casans, 
Eomero,  Campbell,  Casteras,and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Ochoa, 
and  all  the  other  commanders  and  officers.  In  one  word, 
both  men  and  officers  have  completely  done  their  duty ; 
and  having  been  all  equally  engaged,  they  are  equally 

*  It  is  meant  that  he  dressed  his  line  by  that  of  the  EngKsh  in  its 
advance. 


AT   CASTALLA   THE   SPANIARDS   RIVAL  THE   BRITISH.     195 

entitled  to  the  gratitude  of  their  country ;  particularly  the 
memory  of  those  brave  men,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sudrez 
of  the  5th  Grenadiers,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Pizarro  of  [the 
regiment  of]  Burgos,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Puerto  of  the 
Majorca,  who  fell  in  the  action.  Major  Bascon  received  a 
contusion.  Lieutenant  Morales  of  the  Cordova,  Lieute- 
nant Castaneda  of  the  Guadalaxara,  and  the  sub-lieutenant 
of  the  Majorca,  Serrano,  were  wounded ;  with  66  rank  and 
file  killed,  and  163  wounded  ;  which  with  the  29  men 
that  the  battalion  [there  engaged]  lost  on  the  12th  on  the 
pass  of  Biar,  make  a  total  of  258  men. 

'  I  have,  &c., 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

It  is  proved  by  two  dispatches  of  Lord  Wellington, 
dated  5th  May  and  9th  August,  1813,  that  the  Spanish 
division  of  General  Eoche  was  at  Castalla  very  weak  in 
the  field,  nearly  all  the  men  being  at  the  depot.  More- 
over, that  division  being  on  the  right,  was  not  actively 
engaged.  The  state  and  conduct  of  the  Majorca  division 
appear  to  have  been  achievements  with  Spanish  troops 
quite  unrivalled  in  the  Peninsula. 

The  following  extracts  from  Sir  John  Murray's  dispatch 
of  the  battle  of  Castalla  to  the  Marquis  of  Wellington, 
refer  to  General  Whittingham  and  his  division ; — 

'  The  position  of  the  allied  army  was  extensive.  The 
left  wag  posted  on  a  strong  range  of  hills,  occupied  by 
Major-General  Whittingham's  division  of  Spanish  troops, 
and  the  advance  of  the  allied  army  under  Colonel  Adam. 

'  The  skill,  judgment,  and  gallantry  displayed  by  Major- 
General  Whittingham  and  his  division  of  the  Spanish 
army,  rivals,  though  it  cannot  surpass,  the  conduct  of 
Colonel  Adam  and  the  advance.' 

That  the  British  General-in-Chief,  should  thus  acknow- . 
ledge  that  Spaniards  had  rivalled  Britons  in  the  battle 

o  2 


196  MEMOIR   OP   SIR   S.  P.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

was  assuredly  a  sufficient  proof  that  the  labours  of  the 
zealous  organizer  in  Majorca  had  not  been  thrown  away. 
General  Murray  also  forwarded  and  endorsed  the  recom- 
mendations made  by  General  Whittingham  of  his  gallant 
subordinates.* 

On  the  9th  May,  1813,  the  great  hero  deigned  to  in- 
dite a  paper  of  '  Observations  on  General  Whittingham's 
memorandum  of  the  24th  April,  1812,  in  regard  to  the 
draft  of  supphes  from  the  country '  f ;  and  though  he 
declared  it  to  be  '  impracticable  to  execute  what  is  pro- 
posed,' he  yet  discussed  it  with  respect  and  condemned 
the  project  solely  on  the  ground  of  the  inferiority  to  the 
French  on  certain  points  both  of  English  and  Spanish 
troops.  Such  measures  experience  indeed  proved,  owing 
to  Lord  Wellington's  marvellous  successes,  to  be  unneces- 
sary. But  it  might  have  been  otherwise,  but  for  the  in- 
vasion of  Eussia ;  and  if  Napoleon,  abandoning  that  mad 
project,  had  reinforced  his  Peninsular  army  by  100,000 
more  soldiers.  In  that  case  forced  requisitions,  or  an 
abandonment  of  Spain  would  have  been  the  only  alter- 
natives to  keep  the  army  from  starving.  The  retreat 
after  Talavera  was  mainly  caused  by  the  absence  of  such 
requisitions,  and  by  the  indolence  and  ill-will  of  the 
Spanish  authorities,  who  scrupled  not  themselves  to  take 
what  was  wanted  for  their  own  troops,  though  they  took 
no  trouble  to  supply  the  British. 

After  the  praise  given  to  the  Majorca  division  by  Sir 
John  Murray  on  so  many  occasions,  it  will  surprise  no  one 
that  the  Spaniards  were  rendered  almost  wild  with  enthu- 
siasm by  the  accounts  of  the  prowess  of  their  countrymen 
against  the  detested  invaders.  In  the  '  Eedactor  General' 
(a  Spanish  journal)  of  April  1813,  there  is  a  long  and 

•  Though  thrice  honourably  mentioned  in  General  Orders,  and  again  in 
the  dispatch,  no  one  would  suppose  from  Napier's  accounts  of  the  Eastern 
Campaign,  that  either  Whittingham  or  his  Spanish  division  had  done 
anything  particular.     The  Duke  knew  better. 

t  Vol.  X.  p.  366. 


ANECDOTE  FROM  THE  '  RECOLLECTIONS.'      197 

glowing  article  on  the  Te  Deums  and  rejoicings  on  ac- 
count of  the  victory  of  Castalla,  in  the  usual  inflated  style 
of  warm  southern  imaginations.  The  translation  of  one 
of  its  paragraphs  is  sufficient  on  the  present  occasion  : — 

'  General  Whittingham,  that  chief  so  zealous  in  inspi- 
ring all  warlike  virtues  into  his  beloved  soldiers,  must  be 
superabundantly  satisfied  and  recompensed  in  seeing  his 
labours  in  the  organizing  of  these  never-sufficiently-to- 
be-praised  Spaniards  thus  crowned  with  success.' 

The  following  incident  of  the  battle  of  Castalla  is  taken 
from  the  '  Kecollections  ' : — 

'  I  was  directed  to  march  upon  Castalla  with  the  whole 
of  the  force  under  my  command,  except  two  battalions 
which  were  to  remain  at  Alcoy.  On  my  arrival  at  Cas- 
talla, I  occupied  a  range  of  heights  on  the  left  of  the 
town.  The  British  left  and  my  right  were  contiguous. 
Suchet  had  advanced  from  Valencia  with  about  12,000 
men ;  and  had  attacked  some  posts  of  General  Elio,  and 
taken  a  thousand  prisoners.  Our  advanced  guard  under 
Brigadier  Adam  was  driven  through  the  pass  of  Biar  upon 
our  main  body  at  Castalla.  But  the  retreat  was  a  beau- 
tiful field-day,  by  alternate  battalions.  The  volleys  were 
admirable,  and  the  successive  passage  of  several  ravines 
conducted  with  perfect  order  and  steadiness.  From  the 
heights  occupied  by  my  troops  it  was  one  of  the  most 
delightful  panoramas  that  I  ever  beheld ! 

••  About  ten  o'clock  on  the  next  morning,  I  received 
orders  from  Sir  John  Murray,  through  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Catanelh  (an  Italian  officer  on  the  staff  of  Lord  William 
Bentinck)  to  take  ground  to  my  left  till  1  should  reach 
the  head  of  a  ravine  in  that  direction,  then  to  bring  my 
left  shoulder  forwards,  descending  the  valley,  and  form 
perpendicularly  to  the  right  of  Suchet's  line. 

'  In  the  meantime  Sir  John  was  to  advance  with  his 
whole  force  from  Castalla,  and  attack  Suchet  in  front.  I 
told  Catanelli  that  1  should  of  course  obey  but  that  I  did 


198  MEMOIR  OF  SIR  S.  F.  WIIITTtNGIIAM. 

not  believe  in  the  correctness  of  his  communication ;  arid 
Sir  John  Murray  afterwards  assured  me  that  he  had  never 
given  any  order  to  Catanelli.  Luckily,  foreseeing  that 
the  heights  which  I  occupied  would  probably  be  attacked 
as  soon  as  my  movement  to  the  left  should  be  perceived, 
I  left  all  the  advanced  posts  and  their  supports  standing ; 
and  passing  by  their  rear  in  columns  of  companies  left  in 
front,  I  had  hardly  begun  to  descend  the  valley  in  single 
file,  when  a  report  was  brought  to  me  that  the  French 
were  advancing  to  the  attack  of  the  heights  of  Castalla, 
and  that  the  outposts  were  already  warmly  engaged.  I 
instantly  countermarched,  and  formed  columns  of  com- 
panies at  double  quick,  as  the  troops  successively  cleared 
the  defile ;  and  I  re-occupied  my  former  position  just  in 
time  to  repel  the  final  attack  of  the  French.*  Our  loss 
did  not  exceed  300  men ;  the  French  suffered  severely, 
not  having  fewer  than  3,000  men  hors  de  combat. . 

'  Our  advantage  was  not  followed  up,  and  Suchet  was 
permitted  to  retire  without  further  molestation,  through 
the  pass  of  Biar,  by  which  he  had  advanced.' 

*  This  account  of  the  mistake  of  Catanelli  is  confirmed  by  Soutliey. 
Indeed  he  probably  received  the  particulars  from  General  Whittingham,  or 
found  them  at  the  Horse-Guards,  in  the  letters  of  that  officer. 


INCREASE   OF   FRENCH    FORCE.  199 


CHAPTEE  X. 

181 3 — contitiued. 

INCREASE  OP  FRENCH  AND  DECREASE  OF  ENGLISH  FORCE — REPUTATION 
OF  THE  MAJORCA  DIVISION — DEATH  OF  HONOURABLE  COLONEL  CADO- 
GAN — LORD  WILLIAM  BENTINCK  SUPERSEDES  SIR  JOHN  MURRAY — 
GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM  COVERS  THE  RETREAT  FROM  TARRAGONA — • 
EFFECTED  WITHOUT  LOSS — WHITTINGHAM  EXCEPTIONALLY  FAVOURED 
BY  LORD  WELLINGTON — AN  ORDER  MORE  FLATTERING  THAN  AGREE- 
ABLE— CAVALRY  UNSHOD  FOR  WANT  OF  MONEY — A  GERMAN  AIDE-DE- 
CAMP—OFFICIAL JEALOUSIES  AND  PERSECUTIONS  —  GENERAL  WHIT- 
TINGHAM'S  RESIGNATION  OF  COMMAND — HIS  REASONS  FOR  RESIGNING 
— ACCOUNT  OF  PASSING  THE  EBRD — A  DRUNKEN  COMMANDER — THE 
FRENCH  MURDER  COLONEL  o'REILLY— RETALIATION  BY  THE  SPANIARDS 
— GREAT  EVILS  REQUIRE  STRONG  REMEDIES — MAGAZINES  FILLED  IN  A 
WEEK  —  LORD  WELLINGTON  FEELS  THE  UTMOST  CONCERN  AT  GE- 
NERAL WHITTINGHAM'S  RESIGNATION — WITHHOLDS  HIS  PAPERS  TILL 
HE  SHALL  HEAR  AGAIN — GIVES  HIM  A  LARGE  COMMAND  OF  CAVALRY 
— THE  GLORY  AND  DUTY  OF  OBEYING  WELLINGTON — STATE  OF  SPANISH 
CAVALRY  —  HAZARDOUS  ALTERNATIVE— A  FRATERNAL  EPANCHEMENT 
DE  CCEUR  —  TRAINING  OP  SPANISH  CAVALRY  —  COLONEL  TORRENS'S 
LETTER  TO  MR.  DAVIS — ROUTINE  CARRIED  TOO  PAR — LORD  WELLING- 
TON RESIGNS  THE  COMMAND  OF  THE  SPANISH  ARMY — IMPROVEMENT 
OF  SPANISH    CAVALRY — A   DISAPPOINTING   PEACE. 

General  Whittingham  to  his  Brother-in-law. 

*  Alcoy,  ISth  May,  1813. 

'  Suchet's  force  has  been  reinforced  since  the  action  [of 
Castalla]  by  the  junction  of  the  division  that  he  had  in 
Aragon  (about  5,000  men),  and  by  the  arrival  of  about 
2,000  conscripts.  Ours  had  been  lessened  by  3,000  men 
lost  by  General  Elio  at  Gerla  -and  Biar,  and  by  the  de- 
tachment of  three  regiments  sent  to  Sicily.  We  received 
yesterday  the  news  that  General  Hill  had  entered  Toledo, 
and  that  the  Duke  del  Parque  was  at  Almaraz. 

'  The  Spaniards  are  not  in  a  state  to  act  alone  even  a 
subordinate  part ;  and  one  of  two  things  must  result  from 


200  MEMOIR  OF  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

sending  Sir  John  Murray's  army  away.  Either  the  army 
acts  alone,  entirely  composed  of  Spanish  troops,  and  under 
the  command  of  the  Duke  del  Parque,  in  which  case  it 
will  be  entirely  destroyed  in  the  first  action  in  which  it 
may  be  engaged ;  or  Lord  Wellington  will  be  obliged  to 
detach  General  Hill  with  his  corps  darmee  to  take  the 
supreme  command  here ;  and  by  so  doing  weaken  con- 
siderably the  effect  of  his  great  mass  [of  troops]  ;  had  he 
been  able  to  keep  them  concentrated  in  one  sole  line  of 
operation. 

'As  to  this  unfortunate  country  I  see  it  in  a  more 
deplorable  point  of  view  every  day.  Nine  months  have 
nearly  passed  away  since  the  battle  of  Salamanca,  two- 
thirds  of  Spain  have  been  free  during  that  period  ;  and 
yet  the  only  increase  to  our  army  is  about  12,000  men 
under  O'Donnel,  and  the  troops  are  neither  better  paid 
nor  better  fed  than  when  Spain  was  reduced  to  Cadiz. 

'  My  little  division  has  established  a  certain  reputation* 
in  the  country,  which  is  highly  advantageous  to  the  esprit 
de  corps  that  I  have  always  endeavoured  to  keep  up.  But 
as  I  have  no  means  of  recruiting  my  losses,  a  few  months 
of  active  campaign  will  lead  us  fairly  and  softly  to  a  natural 
death.  I  live  in  hopes,  however,  that  in  consequence  of 
the  battle  of  Castalla,  I  may  receive  some  augmentations 
to  my  force.' 

The  death  of  his  dear  friend  the  Honourable  Henry 
Cadogan  at  Vittoria  on  the  21st  June,  1813,  must  have 
been  a  grievous  blow  to  the  subject  of  this  Memoir  and 
deserves  a  passing  allusion.  Cadogan  had  been  gazetted 
on  the  4th  June  to  the  rank  of  Colonel,  but  he  died  before 
his  promotion  was  known  in  the  Peninsula. f     Lord  Wel- 

*  More  than  he  was  then  aware  of,  since  its  commander  had  gained  (as 
will  be  seen  hereafter)  the  high  esteem  of  the  able  Marshal  Sucket,  Duke  of 
Albiifera. 

t  Had  Colonel  Cadogan  survived,  he  would  have  succeeded  to  the  earldom 
of  Cadogan  in  1832,  instead  of  his  younger  brother  George. 


LORD  W.  BENTINCK  SUPERSEDES  SIR  JOHN  MURRAY.      201 

lington  on  the  22nd  of  June,  in  his  dispatch  to  Earl 
Bathurst,  writes,  '  I  am  concerned  to  have  to  report  that 
Lieutenant-Colonel  the  Hon.  H.  Cadogan  has  died  of  a 
wound  which  he  received.  In  him  His  Majesty  has  lost 
an  officer  of  great  merit  and  tried  gallantry,  who  had  al- 
ready acquired  the  respect  and  regard  of  the  whole  pro- 
fession, and  of  whom  it  might  have  been  expected  that, 
if  he  had  lived,  he  would  have  rendered  the  most  impor- 
tant services  to  his  country.' 

On  the  24th,  Lord  Wellington  writes  to  his  brother 
Sir  Henry  Wellesley,  '  I  know  how  much  you  will  feel 
for  the  loss  of  poor  Cadogan,  which  has  distressed  me 
exceedingly.  He  was  so  anxious  respecting  what  was 
going  on,  that  after  he  was  wounded  and  knew  that  he 
was  dying,  he  had  himself  carried  to  a  place  whence  he 
could  see  all  the  operations.' 

Thus  heroically  died  the  beloved  and  loving  friend  of 
Samford  Whittingham. 

On  the  28th  of  May,  Sir  John  Murray's  army  embarked 
for  Catalonia,  and  sailed  on  the  31st ;  disembarked  on 
the  3rd  June,  and  immediately  invested  Tarragona.  The 
abandonment  of  that  enterprise,  owing  to  the  advance, 
with  a  large  force,  of  Marshal  Suchet  to  the  relief  of  the 
town,  was  eifected  in  such  haste  as  to  cause  a  considerable 
loss  of  guns  and  miHtary  stores,  and  also  eventually  to 
bring  before  a  court-martial  the  British  Commander  of 
the  Forces.  On  tlie  17th  June,  Lord  William  Bentinck 
relieved  Sir  John  Murray  of  his  command,  and  then  was 
renewed  the  acquaintance  between  that  distinguished  noble- 
man and  General  Whittingham,  which  quickly  ripened  into 
mutual  esteem,  and  ended  in  durable  friendship.  We  re- 
sume the  '  Eecollections ': — 

'At  the  siege  of  Tarragona,  my  division  of  infantry 
occupied  the  left  of  the  investment.  Suchet  had  advanced 
to  the  relief  with  10,000  men,  but  without  artillery.  I 
submitted  to  the  consideration  of  Sir  John  Murray  that 


202  MEMOIR   OF  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

[General]  Copons,  and  the  Spanish  corps  under  his  com- 
mand, should  be  left  before  Tarragona,  and  that  he  [him- 
self] should  move  upon  Suchet  with  all  his  force.  My 
opinion  was  not  approved ;  and  a  few  days  afterwards  the 
siege  was  ordered  to  be  raised,  and  with  such  precipita- 
tion that  several  guns  were  abandoned,  and  our  honour 
unnecessarily  compromized.  Before  our  re-embarkation 
for  Alicante  Lord  William  Bentinck  had  arrived,  and 
taken  the  command  of  the  army.  His  Lordship  forth- 
with advanced  a  second  time  upon  Tarragona,  but  by 
land.  Suchet,  determined  to  save  the  place  if  possible, 
brought  up  all  the  disposable  force  under  his  command, 
to  the  amount  of  30,000  men. 

'Lord  William's  army  consisted  of  the  divisions  of 
Sarsfield  and  Whittingham,  about  6,000  men  each,  and 
of  the  force  under  the  Duke  del  Parque  of  12,000  men. 
The  three  Grenerals  were  directed  to  meet  at  Lord  William's 
head-quarters,  and  a  council  of  war  was  held  on  the  ex- 
pediency of  risking  a  general  action  with  Suchet.  It  was 
determined  in  the  negative  ;  and  a  general  retreat  being 
ordered,  I  was  left  to  cover  it  with  my  division. 

'  The  country  which  we  then  occupied  was  intersected 
by  stone  walls  enclosing  fields  of  a  moderate  size,  and 
every  road  formed  a  small  defile.  Between  my  advanced 
post  and  the  enemy  there  was  a  deep  but  very  accessible 
ravine,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  a  village  occupied  by 
my  troops.  In  rear  of  the  village  there  was  a  large  open 
space ;  and  beyond  that  a  long  wall  of  about  four  feet  high, 
pierced  through  its  centre  by  the  common  road.  Besides 
the  infantry,  I  had  with  me  two  eight-pounders,  horse 
artillery,  and  nearly  2,000  cavalry.  Having  ascertained 
the  proximate  approach  of  the  enemy,  I  sent  the  artillery 
and  cavalry  to  the  rear,  excepting  only  fifty  hussars,  which, 
with  two  companies  of  grenadiers,  I  pushed  across  the 
ravine,  as  a  check  upon  the  too  rapid  advance  of  the 
French.     I  then  lined  the  wall  on  the  farther  side  of  the 


RETREAT  EFFECTED  WITHOUT  LOSS.        203 

common  with  Campbell's  light  infantry,  and  sent  a  staff- 
officer  with  all  the  battalions  of  the  line,  to  form  them  on 
either  side  of  the  road  at  convenient  distances  successively, 
in  order  the  better  to  secure  our  retreat. 

'  I  had  scarcely  made  all  these  arrangements,  when  the 
troops  on  the  farther  side  of  the  ravine  were  driven  in  at 
double  quick  ;  and  they  had  just  commenced  filing  to  the 
rear  through  the  opening  in  the  wall,  when  the  French 
hussars  came  through  the  village  at  a  gallop — formed  to 
the  front — and  charged  the  troops  entering  the  defile. 

'  It  was  now  my  turn.  The  whole  battalion  of  light 
infantry,  which  had  been  concealed  behind  the  wall,  stood 
up  ;  and  commenced,  from  that  rest,*  a  most  destructive 
fire,  which  brought  down  a  great  number,  and  sent  the 
remainder  to  the  right-about  as  speedily  as  their  horses' 
legs  could  carry  them.  A  General  of  division  should 
always  be  the  first  to  advance  and  the  last  to  retreat.  That 
is  invariably  his  post.  I  consequently  retired  with  Camp- 
bell's battalion,  and  gradually  and  successively  sent  on 
the  different  battalions,  as  they  came  up  in  their  echelons 
to  more  distant  points  in  our  rear. 

'  The  pursuit  was  warmly  followed  up  till  nightfall ; 

when  having  crossed  a  ravine  at ,f  we  ascended  the 

height  on  the  opposite  side,  and  took  up  our  position  for 
the  night.  In  the  village  we  found  five  thousand  rations 
of  bread,  which  had  been  prepared  for  the  French.  I 
ordered  them  to  be  distributed  to  our  men,  in  spite  of  the 
reclamations  of  the  civil  authorities.  I  then  proceeded 
to  open  communications  through  the  walls  in  my  rear  for 
the  passage  of  the  troops,  on  their  retreat  in  the  morning ; 
and  having  detached  on  our  right  a  subaltern  and  twenty 
hussars,  to  ascertain  the  security  of  that  flank,  I  threw 
myself  down  on  a  bundle  of  straw,  and  in  a  moment  was 

*  Rest  for  their  muskets  on  the  wall ;  ensuring  steadiness  of  aim. 
t  The  name  was  left  in  blank,  having  slipped  from  the  memory  of  the 
writer. 


204  MEMOIR  OF  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

fast  asleep  ;  for  I  do  not  recollect  ever,  in  my  whole  life, 
to  have  been  half  so  tired.  At  one  o'clock  a.m.,  my  ser- 
vant awoke  me  to  say  that  a  dish  of  stewed  partridge  was 
ready ;  and  I  certainly  did  eat,  as  most  starved  people  are 
wont  to  do — like  a  hunter.* 

'  I  waited  the  next  morning  till  near  daylight,  in  the 
hope  that  my  hussar- patrol  would  make  its  appearance. 
But  I  was  disappointed ;  for  it  turned  out  that  the  young 
officer  had  disobeyed  my  orders  not  to  dismount,  much 
less  to  enter  any  house,  and  had  in  consequence  been 
surprised  and  taken  prisoner  with  the  whole  of  his  party. 
Our  further  retreat  to  Lord  William's  head-quarters  was 
effected  without  loss.  The  distance  was  ten  miles,  and 
we  marched  it  in  two  hours  and  a  half.' 

Lord  Welhngton  did  not  approve  of  the  Spanish  sys- 
tem of  divisional  inspectors,  but  as  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  Spanish  armies  he  did  not  venture  to  abolish  them 
generally : — 

The  Marquis  of  Wellington  to  Lieutenant- General  Lord 
William  Benti7ick.f 

(Extract.) 

^  Irtjrita,  8th  July,  1813. 

'  You  will  have  seen  that  by  the  Constitution,  all  mili- 
tary regulation  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Cortes,  and  they 
have  a  board  of  officers  now  sitting  to  consider  of  a  mili- 
tary constitution  for  the  army,  which  it  is  intended  to 
republicanize.  Any  proposal  for  an  alteration,  therefore, 
is  laid  aside  till  the  new  military  constitution  shall  be 
fixed.  One  of  the  defects  in  the  constitution  of  the  Spanish 
army,  as  now  existing,  is  in  the  office  and  power  of  the 

*  The  critical  reader  must  remember  that  these  Recollections  (as  ex- 
plained in  the  Preface)  were  written  for  a  beloved  niece,  and  were  never 
intended  for  publication. 

t  Vol.  X.  page  516,  edition  of  1838,  of  Wellmjton  Disjuitches. 


UNIVERSAL  CONFIDENCE  IN  GENERAL  WIIITTINGHAM.      205 

inspectors  of  cavalry  and  infantry,  in  whose  hands  is 
the  nomination  of  all  officers  to  commission,  and  for 
promotion. 

'  This  cannot  he  altered.  Whittingham,  contrary  to  all 
rule,  is  both  Commander  and  Inspector  of  his  own  division. 
I  have  not  the  power  to  make  the  same  arrangement  in 
favour  of  anybody  else.* 

'I  have  no  objection  to  your  allowing  the  Diique  del 
Parque  cavalry  to  act  under  the  command  of  Whitting- 
ham  for  the  moment ;  but  I  beg  you  not  to  make  any 
alteration  in  the  existing  organization  of  any  of  the 
Spanish  armies.  If  you  do,  you  will  bring  me  into  diffi- 
culties.'  

With  Lord  William  Bentinck,  as  with  every  com- 
mander he  successively  served  under,  confidence  in  Ge- 
neral Whittingham  seems  to  have  been  the  invariable 
rule :  but  indeed  it  appears  to  have  been  equally  so  in 
the  case  of  civilians,  whether  statesmen  or  diplomatists, 
with  whom  he  came  in  contact ;  always  excepting  that 
brief  episode  with  the  Governor  of  Gibraltar,  where  he 
had  not  the  opportunity  by  personal  intercourse  of  gain- 
ing the  esteem  of  that  over-punctilious  functionary. 

The  formation  of  the  rival  division  of  General  Eoche 
appears  to  have  been,  comparatively  speaking,  a  failure ; 
as  on  the  9th  August,  1813,  we  find  Lord  Welhngton 
writing  to  Lord  William  Bentinck :  '  I  shall  not  allow 
any  pay  in  future  for  a  division  under  General  Eoche,  as 
he  has  no  such  division  serving  in  the  field.'  This  clearly 
proves  (and  it  is  therefore  quoted)  the  immense  difficulty 
of  the  task  which  General  Whittingham  succeeded  in 
accomplishing  at  Majorca. 


*  The  Editor  ventures  to  place  in  italics  a  sentence  so  honourable  to  the 
subject  of  this  Memoir.  Not  only  the  confidence  of  the  illustrious  Chief  is 
here  displayed,  but  the  great  popularity  of  General  Whittingham  in  Spain 
is  strikingly  manifested. 


206  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.    F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  ToRRENTE,  nth  July,  1813. 

'  At  the  request  of  Lord  William  Bentinck,  of  the  Duke 
del  Parque,  and  of  General  Elio,  I  have  taken  the  com- 
mand of  the  cavalry  of  the  2nd  and  3rd  army,  which, 
added  to  that  of  my  division,  makes  about  2,500  horse. 
I  have  accepted  this  command  because  I  have  been 
ordered  to  do  so  ;  but  I  have  declared  to  them  all  that  I 
cannot  be  answerable  for  the  consequences.  If  I  had 
them  for  some  months,  they  might  be  formed  into  good 
soldiers.  But  at  present  there  is  no  time  for  instruction  ; 
and  in  the  present  condition  of  the  Spanish  cavalry,  there 
is  not  a  single  regiment  in  a  state  to  fight  the  French, 
with  the  most  distant  chance  of  success. 

'  In  the  year  which  has  elapsed  since  the  battle  of 
Salamanca,  the  Spanish  army  has  not  been  increased 
by  20,000  men  ;  nor  do  I  see  the  least  hope  of  a  change 
of  system.  Lord  Wellington  has  been  doing  wonders  ; 
but  England,  as  I  have  repeated  again  and  again,  can 
never  save  Spain  if  Spain  will  do  nothing  for  herself. 

'  In  short,  my  dear  Davis,  I  am  tired  of  a  scene  where 
my  mind  is  continually  harassed,  and  where  it  is  not 
in  my  power  to  do  the  least  good ;  and  I  entreat  you 
to  obtain  an  order  for  me  to  return  home,  and  get  my 
accounts  with  Government  passed.  They  are  long  and 
voluminous,  and,  if  not  settled  during  my  life,  they  will 
probably  be  the  cause  of  infinite  vexation  and  loss  to  my 
family. 

'  No  man  has  considered  the  Spanish  Eevolution  with 
greater  impartiality  than  myself.  When  we  were  re- 
duced to  Cadiz  and  the  Balearic  Islands,  my  spirits  were 
high,  and  I  trusted  that  a  day  of  reaction  would  arrive 
which  would  place  the  Spaniards  in  the  situation  of  the 
French  in  the  year  '94.  That  day  has  arrived.  Lord. 
Welhngton's   memorable  battle   of  Salamanca   put   the 


CAVALRY   UNSHOD   FOR   WANT   OF  MONEY.  207 

Spaniards  in  possession  of  the  best  part  of  their  country, 
and  gave  them  the  means  of  forming  great  and  powerful 
armies  ! 

'  Have  they  taken  advantage  of  these  circumstances  ? 
Have  they  done  anything  for  their  own  salvation  ?  Their 
whole  time  has  been  occupied  in  the  forming  of  a  cursed 
Constitution,  and  their  army  has  been  forgotten  and  neg- 
lected! We  have  not,  I  again  repeat,  increased  our 
army  20,000  men  in  the  last  year,  nor  is  there  in  my 
opinion  any  hopes  of  amendment. 

'  About  four  months  ago  General  Freyre,  with  3,500 
cavalry,  was  sent  to  Seville  by  order  of  Lord  Wellington, 
to  clothe,  arm,  equip,  and  instruct  the  corps.  I  saw  a 
letter  from  General  Freyre,  about  a  fortnight  since,  in 
which  he  states  that  he  had  received  nothing ;  and  that 
he  was  not  able  to  exercise  his  cavalry /<9r  want  of  money 
to  pay  for  the  horses'  shoes ! 

'  You  must  be  satisfied  that  a  year's  reflection  is  suf- 
ficient. That  time  has  elapsed  since  I  first  wrote  to  you 
on  the  subject.  Get  me  recalled,  and  allow  me  to  pass 
some  years  at  least  of  happiness  with  you  and  yours.' 

In  a  letter  marked  private^  and  dated  Torrente,  17th 
July,  1813,  he  gives  to  his  brother-in-law  a  detail  of  the 
advice  he  had  given  to  Sir  John  Murray  at  the  camp  of 
Tarragona,  which,  as  it  is  embodied  in  Southey's  history, 
need  not  be  here  detailed. 


To  Colonel  Torrens^  Military  Secretary. 

♦  Torrente,  Vlth  July,  1813. 

'  My  dear  Friend, — I  beg  leave  to  recommend  to 
your  attentions  and  civilities,  my  aide-de-camp,  Baron 
Halberg,  who  passes  through  London  on  his  w^ay  to 
Germany.  He  is  a  gentleman  I  much  esteem  as  an 
ofiicer,  and  a  friend ;   and  as  he  has  been  with  me  for 


208  MEMOIR   OP   SIR   S.    F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

two  years,  he  can  give  you  a  good  account  of  the  state  of 
the  troops  which  I  have  the  honour  to  command. 
'  I  remain,  my  dear  Friend, 
'  Yours  most  truly, 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

Although  General  Whittingham  was  exceedingly  po- 
pular with  the  Spaniards  with  whom  he  came  in  contact, 
or  rather,  perhaps,  on  that  very  account,  high-placed 
Spanish  officials  were  often  very  jealous  of  the  English- 
man, who  by  his  zeal  and  energy  appeared  to  put  to 
shame  their  own  lack  of  such  qualities.  These  officials 
gratified  their  malice  by  all  kinds  of  shghts  and  insults, 
and  amongst  the  worst  of  them  were  the  Ministers  of 
War  and  Finance.  At  last  matters  wxre  carried  to  such 
a  length,  that  patience  was  exhausted.  On  the  5th  August, 
1813,  General  Whittingham  sent  in  his  resignation  to 
the  Eegency ;  and  on  the  day  following  he  sent  it  also  to 
Lord  Wellington,  who  was  not  only  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  Spanish  army,  but  to  whom  the  Ambas- 
sador, Sir  Heniy  Wellesley,  had  yielded  the  chief  control 
over  the  British  military  agents. 

Thus,  in  the  course  of  a  year,  the  two  brothers  had 
successively  received  letters  of  resignation  from  the  same 
subordinate.  Sir  Henry  Wellesley  had  condescended  to 
request  the  withdrawal  of  the  resignation  in  1812.  The 
Majorca  division  and  its  commander  had  since  greatly 
distmguished  themselves  ;  but  Lord  Wellington  was  dif- 
ferent from,  and  sterner  than,  his  brother.  Would  he 
condescend  in  a  similar  manner  ?  General  Whittingham, 
at  all  events,  expected  no  such  result :  — 

Major-General  Whittingham  to  the  Marquis  of 
Wellington. 

^  Camp  before  Tarragona,  6th  August,  1813. 
My  Lord, — I  have  the  honour  to  enclose  translations 
of  various  official  letters  which  have  passed  relative  to  the 


GENERAL   WHITTINGHAM's   RESIGNATION.  209 

subsistence  of  the  troops  under  my  command.  I  have  en- 
deavoured to  the  best  of  my  power  to  act  up  to  your  Lord- 
ship's instructions  considering  that  if  a  smaller  §um  than 
had  at  first  appeared  necessary,  should  be  found  sufficient, 
the  difference  ought  necessarily  to  result  in  diminishing 
the  sum  appropriated  by  the  British  Government ;  inas- 
much as  your  Lordship's  order  is  positive  that  no  part  of 
the  money  destined  for  the  division  of  Majorca  should  be 
employed  in  the  purchase  of  provisions.  The  Duke  del 
Pai*que,  and  General  Elio,  both  perfectly  agreed  with  me 
in  the  interpretation  of  your  Lordship's  instructions  ;  but 
the  official  communication  which  I  have  just  received 
upon  this  subject  from  the  Minister  of  Finance  is  couched 
in  such  terms  that  I  cannot  in  justice  to  my  own  feehngs 
avoid  sending  in  my  resignation,  which  I  have  directed  to 
General  WimpfFen,  to  be  forwarded,  with  your  Lordship's 
permission,  to  the  Spanish  Government. 

'  I  cannot  take  my  leave  of  this  country  without  avail- 
ing myself  of  the  opportunity  of  returning  my  most  grate- 
ful thanks  to  your  Lordship  for  the  many  favours  which 
I  have  received  at  your  hands.  The  obligations,  indeed, 
which  I  am  under  to  your  Lordship,  to  Marquis  Wellesley, 
and  to  Sir  Henry,  will  never  be  effaced  from  my  memoiy ; 
and  nothing  will  afford  me  through  life  so  much  satisfaction, 
as  to  have  an  opportunity  in  my  hmited  sphere,  of  proving 
the  sentiments  of  respect  and  gratitude  which  animate  my 
mind  towards  everything  bearing  the  name  of  Wellesley. 

'  If  your  Lordship  will  be  pleased  to  grant  me  permis- 
sion, I  wish  to  return  immediately  to  England,  and  I 
should  take  it  as  a  particular  favour  if  Captain  Foley 
might  be  permitted  to  accompany  me ;  as  I  am  extremely 
desirous  of  getting  my  account  with  the  British  Govern- 
ment settled  as  soon  as  possible. 

'  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  the  highest  respect, 
'  Your  Lordship's  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

'  Samford  Whittingiiam.' 


210  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.    F.  WHITTIKGIIAM. 

On  the  22nd  August,  he  gives  to  his  brother-in-law  the 
reasons  in  detail  which  had  induced  him  to  resign.  The 
Minister^  had  begun  to  stop  indirectly  his  acknowledged 
right  to  promote  the  officers  of  his  division ;  in  one  case 
going  so  far  as  to  separate  the  regiment  of  Burgos,  which 
he  had  formed,  from  his  command.  They  took  in  fact 
every  opportunity  of  slighting  him,  and  letting  it  be 
understood  that  his  favour  was  no  recommendation  in 
their  eyes.  Carrying  insult  to  the  extreme  limits  of  false- 
hood, the  Intendant  of  the  2nd  army — eager,  no  doubt, 
to  please  the  Ministers — told  some  of  General  Whitting- 
ham's  officers,  '  that  the  division  of  Majorca  was  more 
prejudicial  than  useful  to  the  nation,  and  the  Minister  of 
Finance  ventures  to  tell  me  that  I  am  ignorant  of  the 
duties  of  a  Spanish  General.'  The  letter  continues  as 
follows  : — 

'  The  measure,  my  dear  Davis,  is  at  last  full,  I  have 
borne  with  patience  insults  and  persecutions,  because  I 
conceived  that  my  efforts  would  do  good,  in  our  great  and 
glorious  cause.  In  the  present  case,  the  opposite  impres- 
sion is  strong  upon  my  mind.  I  am  satisfied  that,  not 
having  it  in  my  power  to  forward  the  interests  of  the  war 
— inasmuch  as  I  am  become  the  innocent  cause  of  ruining 
the  career  of  all  who  serve  under  my  orders — it  is  my 
duty  not  to  hold  a  command  which  could  only  serve  to 
flatter  my  vanity  at  the  expense  of  interests  that  1  have 
always  held  dearer  than  my  own.  I  have,  as  Buonaparte 
says  of  his  politics,  a  morality  of  my  own ;  and  I  can 
never  for  a  moment  consent  that  for  my  personal  advan- 
tage, the  interests  of  those  whom  I  am  bound  to  protect 
and  cherish  should  suffer  the  least  detriment. 

'  On,  the  point  of  quitting  the  mihtary  career,  I  have 
had  the  satisfaction  of  executing  two  operations  well. 

'  When  Lord  William  retired  from  before  Tarragona, 
on  the  approach  of  Soult,  my  corps  which  was  the  most 
advanced,  was  attacked  by  a  French  column  of  5,000  in- 


ACCOUNT   OP   PASSING   THE   EBRO.  211 

fantry,  and  300  cavalry.  I  had  with  me  1,300  infantry, 
and  40  dragoons.  This  Httle  force  retired  with  admirable 
order  upwards  of  ten  miles — checked  and  repulsed  the 
enemy  whenever  he  pressed  upon  us,  and  about  seven  in 
the  evening  effected  a  junction  with  the  remainder  of  the 
division,  which  by  ray  orders  occupied  a  commanding 
position  in  Biar.  At  one  in  the  morning  we  again  began 
our  retreat,  and  joined  the  main  body  of  the  army  at 
Cambrils.  Our  retreat  was  from  the  Coll  de  St.  Christina 
to  Brassin- Vails — Ecus,  and  Cambrils — a  distance  of  thirty- 
three  miles. 

'  On  the  17th,  Lord  Wilham  Bentinck  ordered  me  to 
leave  the  division  of  infantry  of  my  command  at  Coll  de 
Balaguer  ;  and  with  the  whole  of  the  Spanish  cavalry  to 
continue  my  retreat  to  the  Ebro,  and  to  cross  the  river  as 
quickly  as  possible.  The  whole  of  the  baggage  of  the 
3rd  army,  and  one  division  of  2,000  men  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  Duke  del  Parque  had  taken  the  same  route 
the  evening  before. 

'  At  ten  at  night  I  arrived  on  the  banks  of  the  Ebro, 
and  found  the  only  means  of  passage  to  be  a  raft,  capable 
of  carrying  over  four  carts  ;  and  one  small  boat.  Tortosa 
was  distant  two  leagues  ;  its  garrison  6,500  men  ;  and 
reinforcements  immediately  expected  from  Suchet. 

'  The  division  of  infantry  of  the  Duke's  army  took  up 
a  position  on  our  right.  The  baggage  of  the  Duke's  army 
began  to  pass,  and  by  dint  of  the  greatest  efforts,  I  col- 
lected by  the  morning  eight  small  boats ;  each  boat  held 
two  men  with  their  saddles,  &c. ;  and  two  horses  swam 
the  river,  each  man  leading  his  horse*  With  these 
miserable  means,  I  passed  over  in  the  day  and  night  of 
the  18th  [August]  the  whole  of  the  cavalry  and  artillery, 
excepting  six  pieces  and  two  squadrons.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  19th,  the  French  attacked  General  Berenger 

*  This  was  a  slight  error,  coiTected  in  his  Eccollect{(yr„s,  as  will  be  seen 
hereafter. 

p  2 


212  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.    F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

(who  commanded  the  covering  division)  with  six  pieces 
of  cannon,  4,000  infantry,  and  ninety  dragoons.  Things 
looked  very  ill ;  when  the  rapid  advance  of  three  of  my 
guns  on  the  right,  and  three  on  the  left,  and  their  truly 
well-directed  fire,  checked  the  progress  of  the  enemy, 
and  induced  him  to  order  a  retreat.  A  battalion  of  grena- 
diers, sent  by  the  Duke  from  the  other  side  of  the  river, 
ably  supported  by  the  guns  on  the  left,  and  the  arrival  of 
the  head  of  the  Duke's  staff,  remedied  the  errors  and 
folhes  of  the  General  commanding, — who^  I  am  grieved  to 
say,  was  literally  as  drunk  as  a  beast 

'  My  artillery  had  never  been  in  fire  before  ;  but  they 
did  wonders.  [The  French]  General  Eobert's  aide-de-camp 
dined  with  me  yesterday,  and  informed  me  that  they 
thought  the  whole  of  our  cavalry  and  artillery  had  crossed 
the  river  ;  and  that  General  Eoberf  determined  upon 
retreating  as  soon  as  he  found  out  his  mistake.  We  had 
two  other  guns,  which  could  not  be  used  for  want  of  men 
and  horses,  these  being  on  the  other  side  of  the  river. 
I  drew  them  up,  however,  in  the  plain,  and  formed  on 
their  right  an  immense  squadron  of  all  the  servants  and 
mounted  followers  of  the  army  ;  who  made  a  great  show, 
and  served  to  impose  not  a  httle. 

'  We  have  lost  about  400  men  in  killed  and  wounded, 
and  the  French  about  double  that  number.  Suchet  has 
blown  up  the  works  of  Tarragona,  and  our  troops  have 
entered  the  town. 

'  I  hope  to  be  with  you  in  the  month  October :  and  I 
trust  in  God  that  we  shall  pass  many  happy  days  together 
in  the  renewal  of  those  first  and  beloved  impressions  which 
in  good  minds  are  never  to  be  effaced.' 

In  his  '  Eecollections,'  Sir  Samford  has  given  a  very 
graphic  account  of  his  passage  of  the  Ebro,  which,  though 
more  picturesque,  differs  from  the  letter  written  at  the 
period  in  only  one  very  trifling  fact,  and,  strange  to  say, 
in  that,  the  '  Eecollections '  appear  the  more  accurate  and 


ACCOUNT  OF  PASSING  THE  EBRO.         213 

probable.  Perhaps  the  letter  written  on  active  service  was 
hurried.     What  was  written  in  1840,  is  as  follows : — 

'On  arriving  at  the  Ebro  we  found  ourselves  without 
boats  to  effect  our  passage.  We  tried  to  swim  the  horses 
over  without  dismounting  the  men.  But  invariably  as 
soon  as  the  horse  felt  a  little  tired  he  dropped  his  hind 
quarters,  and  his  rider  floated  out  of  the  saddle.  I  linked 
a  division  of  horses  togetlier,  but  they  had  not  half  crossed 
the  river,  when  they  began  to  fight,  and  they  were  all 
drowned.  I  finally  adopted  the  plan  of  putting  two  men 
in  a  small  boat,  one  to  row  and  one  to  lead  the  horses' 

That  portion  of  the  '  Kecollections '  on  this  subject 
which  only  repeats  what  has  been  already  given  in  quota- 
tions from  the  letter  of  22nd  August  is  omitted,  but  what 
comes  next  is  here  subjoined,  beginning  after  the  repulse 
of  the  garrison  of  Tortosa  : — 

'  Having  failed  in  their  surprise,  the  French  continued 
their  retreat  closely  followed  by  our  troops.  Like  old 
and  experienced  soldiers,  they  took  advantage  of  every 
obstacle  to  impede  our  advance,  and  to  cover  their  retreat. 
In  this  affair  I  lost  a  dear  and  much  esteemed  friend, 
O'Eeilly.  He  was  nephew  to  the  famous  Count  O'Keilly, 
and  as  gallant  a  soldier  as  ever  drew  sword.  We  had 
studied  together  at  High  Wycombe :  and  on  his  joining 
me  in  Spain,  I  made  him  colonel  of  a  regiment  of  grena- 
diers ; — for  all  power  of  promotion,  of  organization,  of 
distribution,  and  of  employment  of  the  troops  under  my 
command  had  been  placed  by  the  Spanish  Government, 
with  the  approbation  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  exclu- 
sively in  my  hands. 

'  In  following  up  the  French  too  eagerly,  at  the  head  of 
a  single  detachment  of  cavalry,  his  (O'Eeilly's)  horse  was 
shot  under  him,  and  he  fell.  His  cavahy  fled,  and  the 
French  soldiers  who  had  fired  from  behind  a  wall,  leaped 
over  and  murdered  him  in  cold  blood.  I  was  not  two 
hundred  yards  from  the  spot  when  he  fell ;  but  in  a  moment 


214  MEMOIR   OF   Sm   S.    F.  WIIITTINGIIAM. 

he  was  stripped,  and  on  his  bleeding  body  were  discovered 
no  less  than  seven  bayonet  wounds,  one  of  which  was 
quite  through  the  throat.  Severely,  however,  did  the 
enemy  pay  for  this  act  of  barbarity.  Several  hundreds  of 
their  wounded  men  remained  on  the  field  of  battle,  every 
one  of  whom  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  manes  of  O'Eeilly,  for 
our  infuriated  soldiers  gave  no  quarter  after  his  death.' 

The  exact  time  when  the  following  circumstance  oc- 
curred, the  Editor  has  not  been  able  to  discover.  The 
account  is  taken  from  the  '  EecoUections,'  and  is  worthy 
of  being  recorded: — 

'My  instructions  during  my  stay  in  Aragon  were  to 
take  care  of  the  condition  of  the  horses,  and  to  form  the 
largest  possible  depot  of  grain,  and  of  the  means  of  trans- 
port for  our  future  advance  into  Catalonia.  I  had  no  other 
means  of  feeding  my  troops  but  by  requisitions,  which, 
however,  the  Connnissary-General  alone  was  allowed  to 
make,  countersigned  by  me.  But  the  distribution  of  the 
quantity  to  be  furnished  by  each  town  was  made  by  the 
municipality  of  the  principal  town  in  the  district,  upon 
the  returns  furnished  by  the  Chief  Commissary,  which 
returns  were  countersigned  by  me.  All  arbitrary  pro- 
ceedings were  thus  checked  ;  and  the  receipts  of  the 
Commissary  were  invariably  received  by  the  Spanish 
Government  in  payment  of  taxes  and  dues  of  all  kinds. 
I  adopted  the  same  system  in  Aragon  ;  but  the  result  had 
not  been  satisfactory,  and  the  horses  were  starving  for 
want  of  food.  Had  this  abomination  been  suffered  to  con- 
tinue for  a  fortnight  longer,  so  far  from  being  in  every 
respect  ready  for  the  field,  my  3,000  cavalry  and  36  pieces 
of  horse-artillery  (the  whole  of  my  force  in  Aragon)  would 
have  been  totally  inefficient,  and  good  for  nothing. 
Sancho  has  an  apt  saying  for  such  desperate  cases,  A 
males  graves  remedios  fuertes ;  (great  evils  require  strong 
remedies.)  So  I  directed  my  favourite  Euti  to  take  fifty 
hussars,  and  to  collect  and  bring  to  my  quarters  every 


GREAT   EVILS   REQUIRE   STRONG   REMEDIES.  215 

Alcalde  (mayor)  who  had  failed  to  obey  my  orders.  He 
brought  thirteen!  "Gentlemen,"  said  I  to  them,  "it 
grieves  me  more  than  I  have  words  to  express,  to  be 
forced,  by  your  want  of  patriotism,  to  have  recourse  to 
measures  of  severity,  at  all  times  repugnant  to  my  feelings, 
but  peculiarly  so  in  a  war  entered  into  in  defence  of  your 
religion,  your  country,  and  your  King !  Coolly  and  delibe- 
rately you  appear  to  have  made  up  your  minds  to  aid  and 
assist  the  French,  by  every  indirect  means  in  your  power ; 
and  as  I  cannot  tolerate  so  pernicious  a  system,  I  am  de- 
sirous that  you  should  experience  personally  how  very 
disagreeable  it  is  to  be  reduced  in  point  of  diet  to  the 
lowest  possible  expression  ;  and  how  little  can  be  expected 
of  men  or  animals  so  treated. 

'  "  Euti,"  I  continued,  "  escort  these  gentlemen  to  the 
Castle.  Let  each  be  lodged  in  a  separate  cell,  and  be 
furnished  daily  with  a  loaf  of  bread  and  a  pitcher  of  water. 
Furnish  them  also  with  pen,  ink,  and  paper  for  their  corre- 
spondence ;  and  let  them  know,  that  no  change  Avill  take 
place  in  their  position  till  all  my  requisitions  have  been 
attended  to." 

'  In  less  than  a  week  my  magazines  were  full,  and  I 
never  had  any  further  cause  of  complaint.' 

We  now  return  to  the  correspondence  of  the  period,  at 
an  interesting  moment  to  General  Whittingham. 

On  the  9th  August,  1812,  he  had  sent  in  his  resignation 
to  the  English  Ambassador  of  his  Spanish  command  ;  but 
had  withdrawn  it  at  the  request  of  that  amiable  and  dis- 
tinguished functionary,  under  whom  he  was  serving  as  a 
military  agent.  Since  then  the  division  had  established 
an  honourable  reputation.  Yet  on  the  5th  August,  1813, 
he  once  more  resigned  his  Spanish  command  in  disgust  at 
the  treatment  he  had  received  from  Spanish  Ministers.  On 
that  day  he  sent  his  resignation  to  the  Kegency ;  and  the 
day  following  to  Lord  Wellington. 

On  the  28th  and  31st  August,  and  on  the  4th  Sep- 


216  MEMOIR  OF  SIR  S.    F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

tember  small  parties  of  the  Majorca  division  greatly  dis- 
tinguished themselves  in  skinnishes ;  the  details  of  which 
are  carefully  preserved  in  Eeports  numbered  1,  2,  and  3. 
There  is  only  space  to  record  that  on  the  28th  August, 
Captain  Francisco  Fernandez,  of  the  regiment  of  Light 
Dragoons  of  Olivencia,  by  repeated  and  successful  charges 
against  a  superior  body  of  French  horse  and  foot,  covered 
himself  with  glory  and  put  the  enemy  to  flight. 

The  following  letter  signed  by  the  illustrious  Com- 
mander-in  Chief  of  the  allied  armies,  after  being  carefully 
written  by  one  of  his  Staff,  (evidently  meant  to  be  secret 
and  confidential,  though  not  so  marked)  instead  of  as 
usually  in  a  clerk's  hand,  speaks  for  itself: — 

The  Marquis  of  Wellington  to  Major-General 
Whittingham,* 

^  Lesaca,  20th  September,  1813.t 

'  Sir, — I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  6th  August, 
by  the  Chief  of  the  Staff  of  the  division  of  troops  under 
your  command,  who  now  returns  with  this  answer. 

'I  feel  the  utmost  concern  that  you  should  think  it 
necessary  to  retire  from  the  Spanish  service  in  consequence 
of  the  use  of  an  expression  in  the  correspondence  between 
two  ministers,  which  would  never  have  reached  you  if  the 
arrangement  made  with  me  by  the  Spanish  Gov^.  had 
been  adhered  to — that  all  reports  and  applications  from 
the  army  to  the  Gov*,  and  their  answer,  should  pass 
through  my  hands. 

'  I  must  also  observe,  that  you  have  mistaken  my  in- 

*  The  Editor  does  not  know  why  Colonel  Gurwood  left  blanks  in  this 
letter,  which  was  so  flattering-  a  testimony  to  the  value  of  General  Whit- 
tingham's  services. 

t  In  the  punctuation  of  this  letter,  Gurwood  is  followed ;  but  the  rest  of 
it  accurately  copies  the  original  now  lying  before  the  Editor,  which  differs 
from  the  letters  given  by  Gurwooi — 1st,  in  the  order  of  dating ;  2nd,  in 
the  number  of  the  word  *  arrangement  '5  3rd,  in  abbreviations  of  the  word 
'  Government.' 


WITHHOLDS  HIS  PAPERS  TILL  HE  SHOULD  HEAR  AGAIN.    217 

tentions  in  my  letter  of  the  8th  of  January,  1813.  I 
stated  that  the  funds  placed  in  your  hands  by  His  Ma- 
jesty's Ambassador,  were  not  to  be  employed  in  provisions, 
hospitals,  or  means  of  transport,  but  in  the  pay  of  the 
General  and  other  officers  and  soldiers  present  with  the 
division. 

'  What  I  meant  by  ordering  that  the  money  should  not 
be  employed  in  provisions,  was  that  it  should  not  be  em- 
ployed in  the  purchase  of  bread,  to  which  every  Spanish 
soldier  has  a  right,  besides  his  daily  full  pay,  which  article 
was  to  be  found  by  the  Spanish  Gov\  ;  but  I  understood 
then,  as  I  now  understand,  that  when  a  Spanish  soldier 
receives  his  full  pay,  he  is  not  entitled  to  what  is  called 
etape^  or  any  other  support  from  Gov^,  excepting  bread ; 
and  I  could  not,  therefore,  mean  that  the  money  should 
not  be  laid  out  to  supply  the  soldier  with  food  necessary 
for  him  besides  bread,  according  to  the  Ordenanzas  of  the 
Spanish  Gov^ 

'  I  think  this  is  sufficiently  clear  in  my  letter  of  the  8th 
January ;  but  if  that  letter  should  leave  any  doubt  on 
that  subject,  the  enclosed  extract  of  a  letter  to  General 
Sir  John  Murray,  which  I  have  reason  to  believe  was 
communicated  to  you,  and  to  General  Eoche,  will  have 
shown  in  positive  words  what  my  opinions  were. 

'  The  practice  upon  this  subject  has,  I  believe,  differed 
from  the  regulation,  and  this  may  have  fallen  into  disuse; 
and  at  all  events,  it  may  be  difficult  to  subsist  the  soldier 
upon  his  pay.  But  that  is  a  matter  for  representation  and 
further  regulation,  but  not  for  your  resignation. 

'  Under  these  circumstances,  I  have  thought  it  best  to 
withhold  your  papers  till  I  shall  hear  further  from  you  in 
answer  to  this  letter. 

'  I  am  afraid  that  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  prevail  on 
the  Gov\  to  promote  Colonel  Serrano. 

'  In  regard  to  the  other  objects  referred  to  in  your  letter 
of  the  22nd  August,  as  it  is  possible  that  you  may  alter 


218  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.    P.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

your  determination  of  retiring  from  the  Spanish  service 
in  consequence  of  this  letter,  it  is  not  necessary  that  I 
should  consider  them  at  present. 

'  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  Sir, 

'  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

'  M.-General  Whittingham,  '  WELLINGTON. 

<  &c.,  &c.,  &c.' 

As  for  the  mistake  referred  to  in  this  letter,  (a  mistake 
equally  made  by  General  EHo,  and  General  the  Duke  del 
Parque,)  that  was  a  circumstance  of  comparative  indif- 
ference to  General  Whittingham.  That  Lord  Wellington 
felt  the  utmost  concern  at  his  leaving  the  Spanish  service, 
was  inducement  enough  to  make  him  brave  any  amount 
of  mortifications  which  continuance  in  that  service  might 
entail. 

On  the  9th  August  Lord  Wellington  informed  Sir  John 
Murray  that  the  English  Government  had  determined,  on 
Admiral  Hallowel's  letter,  to  bring  him  to  a  court-martial. 
Later  in  the  year,  in  a  letter  dated  Ecus,  25th  November, 
1813,  General  Whittingham  writes  to  Colonel  Torrens  the 
military  secretary  at  the  Horse- Guards  :  '  I  hope  Sir  John 
Murray  will  not  call  on  me  as  an  evidence.  It  was  my 
opinion  and  still  is — and  Sir  John  knew  it  all  the  time, — 
that  we  ought  to  have  marched  on  the  9th  against  Decaen, 
— have  driven  him  across  the  Llobregat,  blown  up  the 
bridge,  and  returned  instantly  to  meet  Suchet,  who  could 
not  have  been  at  Montoblanco  before  the  16th.  It  is,  and 
was  my  opinion,  that  Sir  John  might  on  a  small  scale  have 
equalled  the  glory  of  Buonaparte  at  Mantua.  The  even- 
ing before  we  broke  up,  Sir  John  came  to  my  camp,  and 
told  me  that  he  had  determined  to  march  against  Decaen, 
and  that  I  should  move  at  daylight  with  three  of  my 
battalions.  I  have  hitherto  not  mentioned  my  opinions, 
or  what  passed  between  Sir  John  and  me  to  anyone.  He 
is  unfortunate,  and  God  forbid  that  I  should  appear  against 
him  in  the  hght  of  a  pubHc  accuser.' 


PROMOTED   TO  THE   COMMAND   OF   5,000   HORSE.       219 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

*  Calanda,  7th  October,  1813.* 

'  I  have  received  so  kind  a  letter  from  Lord  Wellington, 
in  which  his  Lordship  is  pleased  to  say  that  he  feels  the 
utmost  concern  at  my  idea  of  leaving  the  Spanish  service, 
that  I  have  determined  to  remain  and  take  my  chance  to 
the  end  of  the  war.  His  Lordship  has  appointed  me  to 
a  very  large  command  of  cavalry ;  not  less  than  5,000 
horse. 

'  I  have  with  me,  at  this  place,  fifteen  squadrons.  Our 
daily  exercises  have  already  rendered  them  very  dex- 
terous, and  I  do  think  that  another  month  will  make 
them  everything  I  could  wish.  This  is  the  first  time  you 
have  heard  me  speak  with  enthusiasm  of  the  Spanish 
cavalry.  I  cannot,  however,  help  feeling  a  considerable 
degree  of  pleasure  at  the  idea  of  succeeding  in  the  regene- 
ration of  the  Spanish  cavalry,  when  everybody  else  has 
failed !  5,000  horse,  with  fifteen  pieces  of  horse  artillery, 
is  certainly  a  fine  command  ;  and  if  I  can  make  the  rest 
of  the  cavalry  as  good  as  that  which  I  have  now  with  me, 
I  do  not  doubt  that  the  exit  will  be  as  favourable  as  we 
could  wish. 

'  If  you  see  General  Donkin  in  town,  I  pray  you  be 
attentive  to  him.  He  is  a  real  friend  of  mine,  and  a  good 
officer  and  worthy  man.  In  my  opinion,  he  has  been  very 
unfairly  coupled  with  Sir  John  Murray,  in  the  unfortunate 
affair  of  Tarragona ! 

'  I  should  be  obliged  to  you  if  you  would  order  from 
Whippy  a  hussar  saddle  complete,  such  as  he  has  always 
made  for  me,  and  a  hussar  bridle ;  the  bit  of  which  to  be 
large  and  heavy  like  those  used  by  the  soldiers  of  the  1st 
regiment  of  German  hussars. 

'  I  am  grieved  most  deeply  to  be  again  deprived  of  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you  and  yours  this  winter.     But  I  am 

*  In  this  letter  he  announces  the  birth  of  his  eldest  (surviving)  son. 


220  MEMOIR  OF  SIR  S.   F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

sure  that  you  will  agree  with  me,  that  when  such  a  man 
as  Lord  Wellington  condescends  to  express  a  wish,  it 
must  be  the  glory,  as  well  as  the  duty,  of  any  soldier  to 
obey  [him]. 

'  Yours  ever, 

'  Samforb  Whittingham.' 

General  Whittingham  was  not  present  at  the  action,  in 
the  pass  of  Ordel,  in  which  Lord  William  Bentinck's  ad- 
vance guard  under  Colonel  Adam  (who  had  so  distin- 
guished himself  at  Castalla)  was  attacked  and  forced  to 
retire  with  the  loss  of  four  pieces  of  artillery.  In  his  dis- 
patch to  Field-Marshal  the  Marquis  of  Wellington  dated 
Tarragona,  15th  September,  1813,  Lord  WiUiam  states: 
'  I  had  not  numbers  equal  to  those  which  the  French 
could  bring  against  me  ;  I  had  been  obliged  to  leave  the 
division  of  General  Whittingham  at  Ecus  and  Vals,  from 
the  want  of  provisions  and  means  of  transport.'  General 
Whittingham  must  have  been  greatly  mortified  at  his  en- 
forced absence  on  this  occasion,  though  he  must  have 
derived  some  consolation  from  learning  that  such  of  the 
Spanish  troops  as  were  present  at  that  unfortunate  affair, 
equally,  with  the  English,  distinguished  themselves  by 
their  steadiness  and  gallantry. 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

^Calanda,  10th  October,  1813. 

'  The  state  of  politics  in  this  country  is  woeful.  The 
Government  are  doing  everything  in  their  power  to  in- 
commode Lord  Wellington.  But  great  changes  are  soon 
expected. 

'  The  Spanish  cavalry  has  done  nothing  during  the  war. 
It  is  in  a  state  of  complete  disorganization :  immoveable 
from  want  of  discipline  and  instruction ;  sunk  and  de- 
pressed from  misery  and  want ;  accustomed  to  defeat,  and 
almost  deprived  of  the  hope  of  success !    Under  these  cir- 


FRATERNAL  EPANCHEMENT  DE  C(EUF.       221 

cumstances,  you  will  readily  conceive  that  I  have  not  a 
moment  to  lose  in  commencing  a  system  of  organization, 
and  I  may  say  of  regeneration ;  which  must  either,  on 
the  trial  of  the  effects  produced,  lead  them  and  me  to 
immortal  glory,  or  plunge  us  one  and  all  into  the  abyss 
of  disgrace  and  dishonour ! 

'  I  have  been  for  the  last  month  at  work  with  twelve 
squadrons.  Their  daily  progress  has  exceeded  my  warm- 
est expectations,  and  I  trust  in  God  and  our  good  cause 
that  "  every  man  will  do  his  duty." 

'  If,  in  spe-iking  to  you  in  the  confidence  of  the  truest 
friendship,  any  expression  should  escape  me  which  may 
look  like  self-praise,  do  not  attribute  it  to  vanity.  I  cer- 
tainly believe  and  hope  that  it  could  not  proceed  from  so 
poor  a  source. 

'  The  great  advantage  that  I  have  hitherto  had  in  the 
different  commands  which  I  have  held  in  the  Spanish  ser- 
vice, has  arisen  from  the  study  I  have  always  made  it  to 
cultivate  the  greatest  harmony  and  good- will  amongst  the 
corps,  officers  and  soldiers,  of  the  troops  under  my  orders. 
I  have  laid  it  down  as  a  system — to  behave  kindly  to  all, 
— to  cultivate  by  every  means  in  my  power  the  happiness 
and  comfort  of  officers  and  men ;  to  forgive  and  forget 
the  errors  and  wanderings  of  youth  and  inexperience,  and 
to  punish  with  a  severity  even  beyond  the  law  everything 
which  could  throw  the  slightest  blemish  upon  that  honour 
and  exaltation  of  sentiment,  without  which  no  soldier  can 
deserve  the  name.* 

'  The  result,  my  dear  Davis,  has  been  the  heartfelt 
satisfaction  of  being  idolized  both  by  soldiers  and  officers  ; 
and  of  seeing  officers  and  soldiers  of  these  different  armies, 
all  now  united  under  my  command,  living  together  as 
one  family,  and  without  a  single  instance  having  occurred 
of  the  slightest  dispute  or  disagreement. 

*  This  sentiment  has  long  been  carefully  fostered  in  the  Prussian  army, 
and  greatly  contributes  to  its  excellence. 


222  MEMOIR   OP   SIR   S.    F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  On  this  basis  I  build  my  principal  hopes  of  success. 
The  morale  of  the  Spanish  cavalry  has  been  destroyed  by 
neglect,  and  I  hope  to  raise  it  by  being  their  friend  and 
protector;  by  participating  in  all  their  hardships  and 
sufferings,  by  providing,  by  every  means  in  my  power, 
for  their  wants  and  necessities,  and  above  all  by  showing 
them  on  the  day  of  battle,  that  example,  without  which 
all  the  tactics  in  the  world  are  of  no  avail.* 

If  the  reader  will  recollect  that  the  writer  was  a  British 
Lieutenant-Colonel  of  only  little  more  than  two  years' 
standing,  he  will  not  be  surprised  that  the  being  entrusted 
by  Lord  Wellington  and  the  Spanish  Government  with 
the  prospective  command  of  5,000  cavalry,  should  have 
raised  his  hopes  of  being  serviceable  to  his  country  and 
its  alhes,  to  the  highest  pitch  of  enthusiasm.  Had  the 
Peninsular  war  been  prolonged  for  a  couple  of  years,  the 
example  of  the  Majorca  division  might  have  been  repeated 
on  a  larger  scale,  by  the  cavalry  of  Spain,  under  the  orders 
of  an  Englishman  who  had  gained  the  confidence  of  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  and  of  the  Spanish  nation. 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  Reus,*  IQth  November,  1813. 

'  I  have  this  moment  received  your  affectionate  letter 
of  the  2nd  October,  and  am  grieved  beyond  measure  that 
my  silence  should  have  occasioned  so  much  uneasiness  to 
you.  It  was  occasioned  by  my  waiting  for  Lord  Welling- 
ton's decision  upon  my  resignation.  With  his  lordship's 
flattering  answer  you  are  already  acquainted.  I  have  for 
the  last  two  months  been  hard  at  work  with  the  cavalry. 
The  twelve  squadrons,  which  I  have  sent  to  Saragossa, 
manoeuvre  well  at  a  gallop,  and  charge  in  a  very  fine 

*  Here  lie  had  been  left,  as  alread}  explained,  by  Lord  William  Bentinck ; 
and  was  thus  saved  from  sharing  a  repulse :  which,  however,  it  is  by  no 
means  improbable  his  division  might  have  changed  into  a  victory,  as  it  was 
by  superior  numbers  that  the  French  gained  their  advantage. 


COLONEL  TORRENS'S  LETTER  TO  MR.  DAVIS.     223 

style.  In  Calanda  I  have  as  many  more  to  form ;  and 
the  whole  is  shortly  to  be  increased  to  5,000 — if  any  at- 
tention can  be  paid  to  rumours  ;  my  future  destiny  is  still, 
however,  undecided.  One  report  says  that  I  am  to  com- 
mand all  the  cavalry  of  the  right ;  another,  that  I  am  to 
command  a  separate  corps  d'armee  in  upper  Aragon ;  a 
third,  that  Copons  goes  to  the  Ministry  of  War,  and  that 
I  am  to  command  in  chief  the  army  of  Catalonia.' 

Colonel  Torrens  to  R.  H,  Davis,  Esq.  M.P, 

(Extract.) 
'  HoRSE-GuAKDS,  19th  November,  1813. 

'I  now  return  the  interesting  papers  which  you  enclosed 
me  in  your  letter  of  the  31st  ultimo  ;  and  I  assure  you  that 
in  those  which  so  strongly  mark  the  military  energy  and 
talents  of  my  friend  Whittingham,  I  have  derived  a  satis- 
faction equally  decided  with  the  disgust  and  indignation 
naturally  excited  by  a  perusal  of  his  correspondence  with 
the  Spanish  Government.  It  is  no  wonder  that  such 
treatment  and  base  insinuation  should  induce  him  to  give 
in  his  resignation ;  though,  at  the  same  time,  one  could 
not  help  regretting  that  he  should  have  given  way  to  the 
evident  aim  which  they  had  in  view.  Now  that  danger 
is  removed  from  the  immediate  door  of  the  Spanish  nation, 
their  little  jealousies  will  lead  them  to  disgust,  and  dismiss 
if  they  can,  every  foreign  officer.  But  I  rejoice  to  find 
that  Lord  Wellington's  interference  has  induced  Whitting- 
ham to  disappoint  them  for  this  time.  The  command 
which  his  Lordship  has  given  W.  is  most  desirable  and 
flattering ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  he  will  derive 
great  credit  from  it.  I  have  also  had  a  letter  from  him^ 
acquainting  me  with  this  change  in  his  destination.' 

Major-General  Whittingham  to  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  Reus,  25j5A  Novembe?-,  1813. 

'  Lord  Wellington  has  proposed  that  I  shall  have  the 
command  of  about  6,000  cavalry.     Nine  regiments  are 


224  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.    F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

already  under  my  orders.  I  am  ordered  to  reorganize 
them  completely.  I  have  already  sent  four  regiments  to 
Saragossa  in  a  very  good  state  of  manoeuvre.  Having 
now  this  very  large  command  of  cavalry,  I  have  been 
obhged  to  mount  myself  with  a  couple  of  good  English 
hunters  ;  and,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  they  have  cost  me 
so  much  money  that  I  fear  that  my  affairs  will  be  a 
little  deranged  by  it.  They  have  each  cost  me  550 
dollars. 

'  Torrens,  in  a  private  letter  of  the  21st  October,  con- 
cludes his  truly  kind  and  affectionate  epistle  by  saying  : 
"  Should  you  quit  the  Spanish  service,  you  must  be  placed 
at  the  head  of  a  regiment  of  cavalry :  I  have  already 
mentioned  this  to  the  Duke,*  who  has  received  it  most 
graciously."  What  a  magnificent  thing  this  would  be 
for  me ! ' 

This  was  a  bitter  subject  to  him  afterwards.  Though 
his  only  real  English  regimental  service  had  been  in  the 
cavalry,  yet,  unfortunately,  his  promotions  successively  to 
Major  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  had  been  to  infantry  half- 
pay.  At  the  period  in  question  he  might  have  been 
transferred  to  the  cavalry.  But  in  later  years,  when 
a  general  officer,  he  could  obtain  only  the  honorary 
colonelcy  of  an  infantry  regiment,  on  the  plea  that  he 
had  not  served  in  the  cavalry  as  a  field  officer !  That 
was  carrying  routine  rather  far  in  the  case  of  a  man  who 
had  always  served  in  the  cavalry,  English  or  Allied  ;  and 
to  whom  Lord  Wellington  had,  towards  the  close  of  the 
Peninsular  War,  entrusted  6,000  Spanish  horse  for  com- 
plete organization ! 

On  the  23rd  October,  1813,  Lord  Wellington  writes 
to  Sir  Henry  Wellesley :  '  The  Cortes  have  acted  in 
respect  of  the  resignation  as  they  have  on  every  other 

*  Of  York — the  Commander-in-Chief. 


WELLINGTON  RESIGNS  COMMAND  OF  SPANISH  ARMY.        225 

subject.*  The  delay  is  a  matter  of  indifference  to  me  ; 
and  things  may  go  on  as  they  are,  as  long  as  they  choose 
to  delay.  In  the  meantime  the  Minister  of  War  has 
written  me  a  most  impertinent  letter,  of  which  I  shall 
take  no  notice.'  Lord  Wellington  adds :  '  I  would  re- 
commend you,  if  you  find  the  new  Cortes  act  upon  the 
same  democratical  system  as  the  last,  to  quit  them,  and 
travel  about  to  amuse  yourself.' 

Lord  Wellington  had  little  reason  to  be  pleased  with 
the  democratic  government  of  the  Cortes,  which  con- 
tinued most  of  the  abuses  of  Old  Spain,  without  the 
responsibility  or  regularity  of  the  monarchical  rule. 

It  cannot,  therefore,  be  surprising,  that  General  Whit- 
tingham  shared  the  feelings  of  his  chief ;  and  that,  though 
(unlike  the  latter)  his  antecedents  were  not  likely  to  make 
him  otherwise  than  liberal  minded,  he  was  not  pleased 
with  the  very  republican  form  of  government  now  estab- 
lished in  Spain  ;  for  which  that  country  was  then,  as  it  is 
now,  quite  unfit,  for  want  of  sufficient  education  and 
civilization.  It  is  necessary  to  take  these  facts  into  con- 
sideration, in  judging  of  the  future  proceedings  of  General 
Whittingham  in  Spain ;  and  also  to  bear  in  mind  that,  as 
a  foreigner  in  command  of  troops,  he  deemed  it  his  duty 
to  take  no  part  whatever  in  any  political  intrigues  or 
changes  of  government ;  unless,  at  the  request  of  the 
Enghsh  Ambassador,  when  his  services  were  deemed 
necessary. 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  Sakagossa,  2Sth  December,  1813. 

'  As  a  proof  how  much  more  easy  it  is  to  feel  the 
extent  of  the  sacrifices  which  one  may  be  called  on  to 
make,  than  to  carry  that  sentiment  into  execution.  Lord 
Wellington   himself — in   spite   of  his  admirable   system 

*  Lord  Wellington  had,  in  disgust,  sent  in  his  resignation  of  the  com- 
mand of  the  Spanish  army. 

Q 


226  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.    F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

of  forbearance — sent  in  his  formal  resignation  of  the 
supreme  command  of  the  Spanish  armies,  not  long  since ; 
and  in  the  discussion  in  the  Cortes,  whether  it  should  be 
[accepted]  or  not,  the  point  was  only  carried  in  his  favour 
by  a  majority  of  four  votes! 

'  He  is,  however,  thank  God !  again  firmly  seated ; 
and  I  hope  and  trust,  that  when  all  the  members  of  the 
Cortes  have  taken  their  seats,  we  shall  see  a  new  Eegency, 
and  a  new  Ministry  of  War — without  which,  believe  me, 
things  cannot  go  on  long.  The  cavalry  under  my  com- 
mand is  composed  of  nine  regiments.  The  division  of 
Majorca  is  under  my  command  as  before.  The  artillery 
fifteen  pieces,  horse. 

'  The  Inspector-General  of  Cavalry  wrote  to  me  the 
other  day,  to  say  that  I  might  consider  myself  as  possess- 
ing all  his  powers  ;  and  that  I  had  nothing  to  do  but  to 
propose  whatever  arrangements  might  appear  to  me  good, 
in  the  certainty  that  they  would  be  approved  of  by  him. 
The  Inspector  [General]  wished  to  have  placed  all  the 
cavalry  in  the  kingdom  under  my  orders ;  and  he  did  me 
the  honour  to  assure  Lord  Wellington  that  the  only  cavalry 
worthy  of  the  name  would  be  that  which  I  should  form  ! 

'  May  I  hope  that  these  flattering  circumstances  will 
aid  and  assist  my  anxious  desire  to  be  placed  at  the  head 
of  a  British  regiment  of  cavalry  ?  *  Several  officers  of  no 
great  interest  have  lately  been  put  at  the  head  of  cavalry 

regiments  at  home.     M ,  of  the  loth,  has  got  the 

Inniskilling  Dragoons. 

'  You  would  be  delighted  to  see  how  extremely  well 
eighteen  of  my  squadrons  manoeuvre.  I  am  fearful  to 
say  all  I  think  of  them.  But  I  doubt  whether  I  have 
seen  anything  better  in  any  country.  I  cannot  tell  you 
what  Lord  WelUngton  means  to  do  with  my  cavalry.  I 
hope  to  God  he  will  attach  it  to  his  army.  It  is  really 
good.     I  am  capitally  mounted,  though  half  ruined  with 

■^  As  Lieutenant-Colonel  commanding. 


ELECTED  MEMBER  OF  ROYAL  ACADEMY  OF  SAN  LUIS.       227 

the  expense.  I  have  now  seven  nags  fit  for  the  field. 
The  harmony  and  union  wliich  reign  in  all  the  corps  of 
cavalry  under  my  command  is  the  admiration  of  all !  I 
shall  write  to  Lord  Welhngton  to  request  that  he  will 
allow  me  to  send  an  officer  to  England  for  the  clothing. 

'  Torrens  has  already  made  me  an  effective  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  from  the  30th  May,  1811.* 

'  I  have  been  elected  a  member  of  the  Eoyal  Academy 
of  Arts  and  Sciences  of  San  Luis,  established  in  this 
town  ;  and  the  flattering  distinctions  that  I  have  received 
here  are  beyond  description.  My  route  to  and  from  the 
Sunday  parades  appears  more  like  a  Eoman  triumph  than 
anything  else  ;  and  the  whole  population  of  Saragossa 
appear  to  vie  one  with  another  in  doing  me  honour ! 
Yet  in  the  midst  of  all  the  brilHancy  of  parade  and  dis- 
tinction, my  heart  beats  to  return  to  the  scenes  of  love 
and  affection  which  await  me  in  your  beloved  society ; 
and  the  happiness  I  enjoy  is  only  the  anticipation  of  the 
blessings  which  await  me  at  home ! ' 

Alas !  for  the  enthusiastic  pride  and  hopes  of  the 
warrior.  At  length  he  had  obtained  a  rank  and  position, 
and  a  command  sufficiently  large  to  give  him  sanguine 
hopes  of  being  able  to  serve  his  country  (through  its 
allies)  on  a  larger  scale  and  in  a  more  effectual  manner 
than  ever.  But  peace  was  rapidly  approaching,  and  with 
it  was  to  disappear  the  last  chance  of  the  re-establishing 
in  the  field  the  lost  character  of  the  Spanish  cavalry. 
'Tis  not  in  mortals  to  command  complete  success  ;  but  it 
is  at  least  something  to  have  deserved  it,  not  only  by  the 
testimony  of  his  own  conscience,  but  by  the  approval  of 
that  great  and  fortunate  man  who,  besides  securing  his 
own  renown,  had  acquired  authority  to  stamp  deserving 
merit  with  the  seal  of  his  invaluable  and  durable  recog- 
nition. 

*  An  effective  infantry  Lieutenant-Colonelcy,  being  a  matter  of  rejoicing 
to  a  General  commanding  6,000  horse,  forms  here  an  amusing  incident. 

q2 


228  MEMOIR   OF   Sm   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 


CHAPTEK  XL 

1814. 

SPANISH  PROMOTIONS — A  PRAYER  NOT  HEARD — LORD  WELLINGTON'S 
FEARS  REGARDING  SPAIN — RECEPTION  OF  FERDINAND  VII.  AT  SARAGOSSA 
— A  TRIUMPHANT  ENTRY — CONSTITUTION  UNPOPULAR  IN  SPAIN— THE 
KING  REQUESTS  GEN.  \V.  TO  ACCOMPANY  HIM  TO  VALENCIA — THE 
ROYAL  PRESENT — ARRESTS  —  ^  THE  MAJESTY  THAT  DOTH  HEDGE  A 
king'  —  THE  KING  AND  DON  CARLOS'S  FLATTERING  REQUEST— THfi 
duke's  TESTIMONY   TO   THE   MERITS   AND   SERVICES   OF   GENERAL  WHIT- 

tingham  —  his  conversation  with  the  duke  —  unpopularity  of 
king  ferdinand  in  england  —  appointed  aide-de-camp  to  the 
prince  regent — promotion  to  lieut. -general  in  spain — sir  john 
Murray's  court-martial — sir  henry  wellesley  recommends 
general   whittingham   to  viscount   castlereagh  —  the  earl  of 

fife's     letter  —  MARSHAL     SUCHET's     OPINION     OF    WHITTINGHAM  — 

inquisition  established  in  spain  —  spanish  finances  —  sir  john 
Murray's  trial — unlucky  ^buts' — general  mina's  rebellion — 
recollections  of  king  ferdinand — triumphal  royal  route — the 
king  and  the  constitution — royal  thanks — general  whitting- 
ham commanded  to  continue  with  his  majesty — general  zayas 
sounds  general  whittingham  —  his  opinion  not  approved  — 
arrests  —  march  on  madrid  —  cavalry  field-day  —  lieutenant- 
generalship  conferred  by  the  king — ministry  of  war  offered 
;    — declined  after  reference — takes  leave  op  the  king  and  don 

ANTONIO. 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  ALUMifiA,  12th  February^  1814. 

'  Convinced  that  pence  must  soon  take  place,  I  am 
doubly  anxious  to  secure  at  home  such  a  situation  as 
may  enable  me  to  live  amongst  my  best  and  dearest 
friends,  with  the  respectability  which  I  conceive  neces- 
sary, after  the  command  which  I  have  held  in  this 
country. 

'  In  my  campaigns  in  this  countiy  I  have  the  singular 
satisfaction  to  be  able  to  state  that  all  my  [Spanish]  com- 


SPANISH    PROMOTIONS.  229 

missions  have  been  gained  in  the  field  of  battle  ;  and 
have  been  granted  to  me  as  a  reward  of  service,  without 
the  slightest  intervention  on  the  part  of  any  person.  In 
[the  case  of]  Baylen,  I  was  made  effective  colonel  of 
cavalry.  In  Mora  and  Consuegra,*  brigadier.  In  Tala- 
vera,  Mariscal  de  Campo.  Still,  however,  I  long  to 
return  to  the  service  of  my  own  country  ;  and  I  would 
not  hesitate  a  moment  between  being  a  British  Colonel, 
or  a  Lieu  tenant-General  in  any  other  service.  If,  how- 
ever, circumstances  should  render  this  impossible,  I  must, 
I  fear,  give  up  those  hopes  which  have  ever  been  most 
cherished  by  my  heart ;  and  continue  my  services  here. 

'  I  confess  to  you  that  I  have  not  the  best  opinion  of 
the  future  state  of  things  in  this  country.  I  enclose  a 
gazette  containing  the  peace  treated  of  by  Buonaparte 
and  Ferdinand  the  Seventh  ;  and  the  decree  of  the  Cortes 
in  consequence.  We  expect  the  King  to  return  here 
soon.  It  is  not  easy  to  imagine  what  Buonaparte's 
motives  can  be  for  sending  him.  I  fear  much  that  dis- 
putes will  occur  between  the  King  and  the  Cortes,  which 
may  lead  to  a  civil  war ;  or  at  least  to  differences,  which 
the  Corsican  may  know  too  well  how  to  avail  himself  of. 
All  will  depend  upon  the  class  of  men  in  whom  the  King 
may  place  his  confidence,  God  grant  that  he  may  choose 
well  If 

'I  enclose  also  another  gazette  of  a  review  of  my 
fourteen  squadrons  of  cavalry,  and  of  one  of  artillery 
given  by  me  to  the  authorities  of  Saragossa.' 

To  the  Same. 

'  Saragossa,  20th  March,  1814. 

'  Nothing  can  be  more  grievous  than  the  uncertainty 
and  delay  of  our  correspondence !  I  [only]  yesterday 
received  your  letter  of  the  31st  January  ! 

*  No  accounts  of  the  combat  of  Consuegra  have  reached  the  Editor's 
hands.     It  was  one  of  Alburquerque's  successful  actions, 
t  This  prayer  was  not  heard. 


230  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.    F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  I  enclose  tlie  state  papers  which  have  been  pubhshed 
here  relative  to  the  mission  of  the  Duke  of  San  Carlos.* 

'  In  this  country  I  have  no  idea  of  remaining.  The 
republican  party  is  every  day  gaining  ground ;  and  civil 
war  must  ultimately  decide  the  contest. 

'Lord  WeUington  is  finally  arranging  the  form  and 
number  of  the  Spanish  armies.  This  will  determine 
when  and  how,  and  where  I  am  to  be  employed.  In  the 
mean  time  my  cavalry  continues  to  improve  and  is  very 
fit  for  any  service.' f 

Lord  Wellington  writing  to  his  brother  the  Ambas- 
sador on  the  22nd  March,  1814,  says  :  '  I  am  very  much 
afraid  that  the  real  mischief  is  only  now  beginning  in 
Spain.  I  was  always  certain  that  the  conduct  of  the 
people  of  Madrid  towards  the  Cortes  would,  after  a  short 
time,  be  the  same  as  that  of  the  people  of  Cadiz.  No 
popular  assembly  can  exist  if  it  opens  its  galleries  under 
any  other  system  than  that  in  use  in  England,  unless  the 
press  is  restrained.  I  heard  at  Tarbes  the  other  day  that 
the  King  had  passed  Toulouse  on  his  return  to  Spain. 
Again  on  the  27th  March,  Lord  Wellington  writes  :  '  You 
will  have  heard  that  King  Ferdinand  passed  Toulouse  on 
the  18th  on  his  way  to  Spain.' 

On  the  30th  April  from  Toulouse  Lord  Wellington 
writes  to  his  brother :  '  I  shall  be  very  anxious  to  hear 
of  the  King's  decision  and  conduct  in  regard  to  the 
constitution.' 

Major- General  Whittingham  to  his  Brother-in-law. 

<■  Madkid,  21si5  May,  1814. 

'  I  enclose  copies  of  all  the  official  papers  which  have 
passed  relative  to  my  march  here  ;  and  I  shall  now  at- 

*  Friend  of,  and  Minister  to,  Ferdinand  VII. 

t  By  a  Return  of  1st  April,  1814,  in  Spanish,  General  Whittingham's 
force  at  Saragossa  consisted  of  nine  regiments  of  infantry,  eleven  regiments 
of  cavalry,  and  18  pieces  of  horse -artillery  :  a  large  command  for  a  British 
Lieut.-Colonel, — Vide  Appendix  B. 


ACCOMPANIES   THE   KlNCi.  231 

tempt  to  give  you  some  idea  of  what  took  place  from  the 
time  of  my  going  to  meet  the  King  in  upper  Aragon. 

'  On  the  12th  of  March,  we  received  advice  at  Sara- 
gossa,  that  the  King  had  determined  upon  taking  that 
route,  instead  of  going  direct  to  Valencia ;  and  that  he 
would  be  at  Seville  on  the  following  day.  I  immediately 
pushed  on  about  300  dragoons ;  with  orders  to  station 
themselves  by  troops  on  the  route,  and  to  advance  as  far 
as  possible  ;  and  myself  taking  post  *  set  off  immediately 

in  the  same  direction.     I  met  the  King  at f ,  where 

my  cavalry  relieved  that  of  the  first  army. 

'  As  soon  as  I  approached  the  King's  carriage,  His 
Majesty  said  to  me  '  Como  va  ?  Tiempo  ha  que  tenemos 
muclia  gana  de  conocerte.'^  From  that  day,  I  received 
the  most  marked  attention  from  His  Majesty,  and  the 
Prince,  Don  Carlos.  The  King's  entrance  into  Saragossa, 
and,  in  short,  into  all  the  towns  of  Aragon,  was  such  a 
triumph,  as  it  is  impossible  to  express,  and  not  easy  to 
conceive,  except  by  those  who  witnessed  those  happy 
scenes.  But  if  the  marks  of  joy  and  exultation  were 
strong  beyond  measure  at  the  King's  return,  the  expres- 
sions of  dislike  and  detestation  of  the  Constitution  were 
not  less  general  and  strong  :  and  His  Majesty,  from  his 
entrance  into  Aragon  till  his  arrival  at  Madrid,  never 
heard  any  language  that  could  induce  him  for  a  moment 
to  believe  that  the  Constitution  had  merited  the  approba- 
tion of  his  subjects.  ISTor  is  this  to  be  wondered  at.  In 
the  fury  of  their  republican  zeal,  the  rulers  of  the  Cortes 
had  attacked,  openly  and  in  the  most  violent  manner,  the 
nobility,  the  clergy,  and  the  army;  and  consequently 
had  made  the  whole  of  these  respectable  classes  their 

*  Travelling  post  by  relays  of  horses  was  then  the  mode  of  quick  travel- 
ling in  Spain. 

t  At  the  moment  of  writing,  he  appears  to  have  forgotten  the  name  of 
the  place  (perhaps  a  small  village)  where  he  met  the  King. 

X  '■  How  do  you  do  ?  For  a  long  time  we  have  much  desired  to  know 
you.' 


232  MEMOIR    OF   SIR  S.    F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

enemies.  They  had  also,  in  the  plenitude  of  their  finan- 
cial ignorance,  done  away  with  all  the  old  duties,  and 
revenues  of  Spain ;  and  established,  in  stead,  what  they 
called  '  la  contribucion  unica  y  directa ' ;  a  tax  exactly 
similar  to  our  income  tax.  You  will  recollect  with  what 
reluctance  this  tax  was  admitted  in  England,  although 
it  was  only  to  meet  a  small  part  of  our  expenditure, 
and  although  England  from  her  commerce,  interior  and 
exterior,  has  so  large  a  circulating  medium,  that  dis- 
bursements must  be  to  her,  compared  with  Spain,  of 
little  burthen  !  You  will  easily,  therefore,  conceive  the 
effect  of  such  a  tax  on  the  Spanish  peasantry,*  and  to 
an  extent  sufficient  to  meet  the  whole  expenditure  of 
government. 

'  The  mind  of  the  Spanish  nation  was  in  a  state  of 
ferment ;  and  the  presence  of  the  King  produced  an  im- 
mediate explosion. 

'  Had  the  King  found  the  nation  in  general  attached 
to  the  new  Constitution,  he  would  undoubtedly  have 
sworn  to  it.  But  never  was  a  national  opinion  more 
decidedly,  or  more  openly  pronounced.  Not  a  shadow 
of  doubt  could  remain  upon  the  King's  mind. 

'  The  King  staid  four  days  at  Saragossa  ;  reviewed  my 
cavalry ;  and  was  pleased  to  say  everything  that  was 
kind  and  flattering.  I  accompanied  him,  with  relays  of 
troops,  as  far  as  the  frontier  of  Aragon,  where  I  met  my 
Commander-in-Chief,  General  Elio.  On  my  approaching 
the  King  to  take  leave,  he  said  '  No  te  vayas.  Tengo 
mucho  gusto  en  que  me  accompanes.  Ven  conjnigo  a 
Valencia  J  f 

^At  Valencia,  I  remained  two  days,  and  on  taking 


*  It  appears  that  in  Spain,  no  income,  however,  small,  escaped  the  tax  in 
question — a  law  that  would  never  he  tolerated  in  England. 

t  His  brother-in-law  being  a  good  Spanish  scholar,  the  original  alone  is 
in  the  letter.  His  Majesty  said,  '  Don't  go.  I  have  much  pleasure  in  your 
accompanying  me.     Come  with  me  to  Valencia.' 


THE  KING  AND  DON  CARLOS'S  FLATTERING  REQUEST.      233 

leave,  the  King  made  me  a  present  of  a  beautiful  mosaic 
snufF-box,  which  he  desired  me  to  keep  in  remembrance 
of  him.* 

'  The  remainder  of  the  details  of  my  march  you  will 
be  perfectly  acquainted  with  by  the  enclosed  official 
correspondence.  Many  of  the  leading  people  were  ar- 
rested the  night  before  the  King  arrived  at  Madrid,  by 
the  Captain-General  Eguia,  and  there  is  no  longer  a 
shadow  of  doubt,  from  the  republican  papers  that  have 
been  seized,  and  the  secret  correspondence  with  France, 
that  had  the  King  sworn  to  the  Constitution,  he  would 
have  gone  to  the  scaffold  in  less  than  six  months.' 

From  this  letter,  a  great  deal  in  praise  of  King  Ferdi- 
nand has  been  here  omitted,  as  General  Whittingham  at 
a  later  period  reluctantly  discovered  that  the  amiable  and 
plausible  but  fickle  and  weak-minded  prince  was  very 
far  from  being  the  promising  Sovereign  he  had  mistaken 
him  for  in  the  first  excitement  of  His  Majesty's  return  to 
his  loving  and  enthusiastic  subjects,  for  such  were  at  that 
time  the  great  masses  of  the  Spanish  nation.  Shakspeare 
confesses  that  there  is  '  a  Majesty  that  doth  hedge  a 
King,'  but  a  King  smiling,  fiattering,  grateful,  plausible, 
affable,  is  surrounded  by  a  double  hedge  of  Majesty.  No 
wonder  that  for  a  time  the  Englishman  in  his  service 
should  have  imbibed  a  personal  partiality  for  a  Sovereign, 
who  on  his  part  displayed  so  flattering  an  appreciation  of 
his  foreign  General. f 

*  This  box  Sir  Samford,  some  nine  or  ten  years  later,  gave  to  his  beloved 
and  respected  friend,  the  lion.  Sir  Edward  Paget.  This  not  very  valuable 
gift  was  all  Sir  Samford  ever  received  from  King  Ferdinand. 

t  If  General  Whittingham  erred  in  his  opinion  of  King  Ferdinand,  and 
of  his  popularity  at  this  time  in  Spain,  he  erred  in  good  company.  In  a 
letter  dated  *  Madrid,  25th  May,  1814-,'  and  addressed  to  Sir  Charles  Stuart, 
the  Duke  of  Wellington  writes,  *  you  will  have  heard  of  the  extraordinary 
occurrences  here,  though  not  probably  with  surprise.  Nothing  can  he  more 
popular  than  the  King  and  his  measures,  as  far  as  they  have  gone  to  the  over~ 
throw  of  the  Constitution.  The  imprisonment  of  the  Liberates  is  thought  by 
some,  I  believ6  with  justice,  unnecessary,  and  it  is  certainly  highly  impolitic ; 


234  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  Madrid,  23;- J  May,  1814. 

'  The  King  of  Spain  continues  to  distinguish  me  by 
every  possible  mark  of  attention.  I  expect  daily  the 
commission  of  Lieutenant-General. 

'  The  King  and  the  Infante  Don  Carlos,  are  anxious  that 
I  should  remain  in  their  service  :  but  they  know  not  of 
what  materials  my  heart  is  composed,  and  that  I  prefer 
the  love  of  my  best  and  dearest  friends  to  all  the  glory  in 
the  world !' 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Whittingham,  for  he  now  usually 
reverts  to  his  British  rank,  determined  to  return  to  Eng- 
land ;  but  before  leaving  he  desired  to  obtain  from  the 
great  Duke,  '  never  prodigal  of  praise^'  some  more  decided 
opinion  as  to  the  merits  of  his  services  in  Spain  than 
was  to  be  gathered  from  the  many  strong  but  indirect 
proofs  of  confidence  which  had  been  hitherto  vouchsafed 
to  him. 

The  result  was  the  following  letter,  and,  considering 
the  character  of  the  illustrious  writer,  a  more  comprehen- 
sive testimonial  can  scarcely  be  imagined,  than  the  words 
now  placed  in  italics  : — 

The  Duke  of  Wellington  to  His  Royal  Highness  the  Duke 

of  York. 

^  Madrid,  4th  June,  1814. 

'  Sir, — Colonel  Whittingham  (Mariscal  de  Campo,*  in 
the  service  of  Spain)  having  informed  me  that  it  would 

but  it  is  liked  by  the  people  at  large.'  In  the  same  letter  the  Duke  writes, 
'  I  entertain  a  very  favourable  opinion  of  the  King,  from  what  I  have  seen  of 
him,  but  not  of  his  Ministers.' —  Wellington  Dispatches,  vol.  xii.  p.  27. 

*  Had  this  letter  been  delayed  a  little  longer,  instead  of  *  Mariscal  de 
Campo  '  (that  is  Major-General),  the  Spanish  rank  would  have  been  Lieu- 
tenant-General, that  is  the  highest;  for  Captain- General  was  (then  at  least 
if  not  now)  rather  an  appointment  than  a  rank,  and  for  it  all  Lieutenant- 
Generals  were  eligible. 


LORD  Wellington's  recommendation.  235 

be  necessary  for  him  to  return  to  England  in  a  short  time, 
and  having  expressed  a  desire  that  I  should  lay  before 
your  Eoyal  Highness  my  sense  of  his  services  and  merits, 
I  beg  leave  to  inform  your  Eoyal  Highness,  that  he  has 
served  most  zealously  and  gallantly  from  the  commencement 
of  the  war  in  the  Peninsula ;  and  that  I  have  had  every 
reason  to  he  satisfied  with  his  conduct  in  every  situation  in 
which  he  has  been  'placed. 

'I  have  the  honour  to  be,  &c. 

'  Wellington.' 

^  His  Eoyal  Highness  the  Duke  of  York.' 

His  Grace  probably  styled  Lieutenant-Colonel  Whit- 
tingham,  Colonel  by  courtesy,  but  he  may  have  known 
that  on  that  very  day,  the  '  London  Gazette  '  was  pub- 
lishing his  promotion. 


To  his  Brother-in-la 


w. 


*  Madkid,  Uh  June,  1814. 

'  I  have  had  a  long  and  very  satisfactory  conversation 
with  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  He  is  decidedly  of  opinion 
that  I  should  by  no  means  think  of  giving  up  the  British 
service,  although  he  believes  that  there  will  be  no  ob- 
jection to  my  continuing  in  this  part  for  the  moment.  He 
has  promised  to  speak  to  the  Duke  [of  York]  upon  the 
subject  of  my  commission  being  dated  in  the  year  [180]9, 
which  he  seems  to  think  may  be  done  with  perfect  pro- 
priety. He  also  gave  me  a  letter  of  recommendation  to 
H.E.H.  the  Duke,  "  although  "  as  he  kindly  said  "  that 
will  not  prevent  my  speaking  to  H.E.H.  as  I  shall  see  him 
before  you." 

'Castanos  has  given  me  a  letter  to  General  Gordon, 
reminding  him  of  the  King's  [George  HI.]  promise,  and 
begging  him  to  submit  my  case  to  H.M.'s  consideration. 
I  hope  also  to  obtain  from  the  King  of  Spain  a  strong 
letter  of  recommendation  to  the  Pruice  Eegent.' 


236  MEMOIR   OF    Sill   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

Meantime,  the  conduct  of  the  King  of  Spain  had  made 
him  very  unpopular  in  England,  and  that  unpopularity 
was  destined  later  to  extend  to  General  Whittingham,  as 
if  he  could  have  in  any  way  interfered  in  the  political 
government  of  Spain,  or  had  the  least  authority  for  so 
doing. 

The  Duke  of  Wellington  wrote  from  London,  (20th 
July,  1814),  to  Sir  Henry  Wellesley.  'It  is  not  easy  to 
describe  the  unpopularity  attached  to  the  King's  name, 
from  the  occurrences  at  his  return  to  Madrid.  The  news- 
papers afford  some  specimens  of  it :  but  at  a  late  dinner 
at  Guildhall,  I  recommended  to  the  Lord  Mayor  to  drink 
the  King  of  Spain's  health,  and  he  told  me  that  he  was 
become  so  unpopular  in  the  city,  he  was  afraid  that,  if  the 
toast  were  not  positively  refused,  it  would  at  least  be  re- 
ceived with  so  much  disgust  as  to  render  it  very  disagree- 
able to  me  and  to  every  well  wisher  to  the  Spanish 
Government.' 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

*  Madrid,  8th  June,  1814. 

'  I  march  this  evening  to  Alcala,  where  I  have  directed 
sixteen  squadrons  of  cavalry,  and  one  of  horse-artillery, 
to  assemble.  They  are  to  manoeuvre  under  my  direction, 
fifteen  or  twenty  days  previously  to  their  being  seen  by 
His  Majesty.  This  will  occasion  a  small  delay  in  my 
return  home.' 

To  the  Same. 

^  Madrid,  1st  July,  1814. 
'  I  have  seen  by  the  Gazette  [of  the  4th  June]  that  I 
have  had  the  high  and  distinguished  honour  to  be  ap- 
pointed aide-de-camp  to  his  Eoyal  Highness  the  Prince 
of  Wales !  It  would  be  indeed  difficult  to  express  my 
feelings  on  this  occasion. 


RECOMMENDATION   OF   GENERAL   WHITTINGHAM.      237 

'  The  King  of  Spain  has  promoted  me  to  the  rank  of 
Lieutenant-General ;  *  and  [H.M.]  assured  me  the  other 
day,  in  a  manner  truly  affecting  from  its  kindness,  that 
nothing  could  grieve  him  more  profoundly  than  my 
quitting  his  service ;  an  event  which  he  hoped  and  trusted 
would  never  take  place.' 

To  the  Same. 

*  Madrid,  14th  July,  1814. 

'  My  dear  Davis, — This  night  I  begin  my  march  for 
Bourdeaux,  through  Saragossa. 

'  I  had  scarcely  taken  the  pen  in  my  hand,  when  I 
received  an  official  summons  to  attend  Sir  John  Murray's 
court-martial  at  Tarragona.  This  will  create  a  consider- 
able delay.  Mrs.  W.  will  remain  at  Saragossa  ;  and  I 
shall  proceed  on  to  Catalonia.  I  have  written  to  you 
fully,  under  cover  to  Torrens,  a  few  days  since.  I  send 
this  to  Bilboa. 

'  Yours  ever  most  truly, 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

Before  leaving  Madrid,  the  English  Ambassador  added 
his  testimony  to  the  services  of  General  Whittingham, 
entering  into  more  details  than  his  illustrious  brother  had 
done  : — 

Sir  Henry  Wellesley  to  Viscount  Castlereagh. 

'  Madrid,  227id  July,  1814. 

'  My  Lord, — Lieutenant-General  Whittingham  being 
about  to  embark  for  England,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of 
giving  him  this  letter  of  introduction  to  your  Lordship. 

'The  services  of  General  Whittingham,  from  the  period 
of  the  breaking  out  of  the  general  war  against  France, 
have  obtained  for  him  the  approbation  of  his  Eoyal 
Highness   the   Prince   Eegent,    as  well   as   that  of  the 

*  This  commission  as  Lieut. -General  was  dated  16th  June,  1814. 


238  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

Spanish  Government.  He  was  with  General  Castanos,  as 
a  mihtary  agent  at  the  battle  of  Baylen  ;  and,  in  tlie  fol- 
lowing campaign,  was  severely  wounded  at  the  battle  of 
Talavera,  while  leading  a  Spanish  corps  into  action. 

'  During  the  period  of  his  residence  at  Cadiz,  he  was 
employed  in  the  formation  of  a  corps  of  cavalry :  and  he 
afterwards  formed  the  division,  which,  under  his  orders, 
behaved  w^ith  the  greatest  gallantry  at  the  battle  of  Cas- 
talla ;  where  it  repulsed  the  attack  of  nearly  the  whole 
of  Suchet's  corps,  and  where  General  Whittingham  was 
again  wounded.* 

'  I  have  before  informed  your  Lordship  that  General 
Whittingham  had  the  good  fortune  to  receive  the  King 
at  Saragossa,  at  the  head  of  a  division  of  cavalry,  of 
which  he  undertook  the  formation,  at  the  desire  of  the 
Duke  of  Wellington.  This  division  has  since  been  re- 
viewed at  Madrid  by  the  King,  and  was  so  highly  ap- 
proved by  His  Majesty,  that  immediately  after  the  review 
he  conferred  upon  General  Whittingham  the  rank  of 
Lieutenant-Gener  al . 

'  I  have  thought  it  my  duty  to  mention  these  circum- 
stances, so  honourable  to  an  officer  whose  conduct  during 
his  employment  in  Spain  has  entitled  him  to  general 
respect  and  esteem. 

'  I  have,  &c., 

'  H.  Wellesley.' 

The  following  letter,  as  being  also  a  testimonial  to 
General  f  Whittingham's  services,  equally  flattering,  is 
here  inserted  a  little  out  of  its  place,  to  complete  the 
estimate  of  his  military  services  at  this  period  : — 

*  It  was  at  Conceiitayna  (an  action  that  took  place  a  little  before  that  of 
Castalla)  that  General  Whittingham  was  the  second  time  wounded  in  the 
face.     The  Editor  can  find  no  record  of  his  having  been  hit  at  Castalla. 

t  Whilst  he  was  still  in  Spain,  in  spite  of  the  peace,  English  as  well  as 
Spaniards  still  called  him  General ;  but  on  the  part  of  the  English  this  was 
now  only  by  courtesy. 


LORD    fife's    letter   TO   GENERAL   WHITTINGIIAM.       239 

The  Earl  of  Fife  to  General  Whittingham. 

^  Paris,  Slst  December,  1814. 

'  My  clear  Whittingham, — As  you  know  my  friendship 
for  you,  and  everyone  who  served  in  Spain  is  aware  of 
the  great  regard  and  high  opinion  I  always  entertained 
of  you,  it  will  not  be  surprising  when  I  inform  you  how 
much  pleasure  I  had  in  hearing  your  praises  from  the 
highest  authority^  concerning  your  conduct  in  the  last  two 
campaigns. 

'  I  was  particularly  anxious  to  know  from  the  French 
officers  who  had  served  in  that  part  of  Spain  where  you 
were  latterly  employed,  their  opinion  of  your  merits 
and  exertions  ;  and,  believe  me,  yourself,  or  your 
warmest  friends,  could  not  have  wished  more  favourable 
answers. 

'  The  Duke  of  Albufera,  Marshal  Suchet,  spoke  to  me 
a  long  time  about  you,  and  told  me  that  he  was  sur- 
prised at  the  perfection  you  had  brought  your  division 
to,  and  that  they  were  in  as  high  a  military  state  as  any 
of  his  own  troops,  and,  he  believed,  as  any  other  sol- 
diers in  Europe  ;  that  he  had  had  frequent  occasion  to 
admire  your  conduct  in  the  field ;  and  his  opinion  of  you 
was  that  of  a  most  meritorious  officer. 

'  I  was  witness  to  a  great  part  of  your  exertions  in  the 
cause,  and  was  aware  what  difficulties  on  all  sides  you 
had  to  encounter.  Nothing  can  be  more  satisfactory 
than  the  result ;  and  I  most  heartily  congratulate  you, 
on  your  having  so  steadily  persevered  in  a  contest  which 
has  gained  you  a  reputation  even  among  your  former 
enemies,  of  an  excellent  officer.  With  every  good  wish, 
believe  me,  my  dear  Whittingham, 

'  Your  very  sincere  friend, 

'FlFE.'^^' 

*  See  Preface,  for  Lord  Fife's  letter  to  the  Editor,  (in  confirmation  of  the 
above  testimony,)  in  1845. 


240  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

Such  a  letter,  written  by  one  of  the  bravest  of  English- 
men, who  courted  danger  as  a  volunteer,  almost  for  its 
own  sake,  is  valuable  in  itself ;  but  as  conveying  also  the 
more  important  approval  of  one  of  Napoleon's  cleverest 
Marshals,  it  must  ever  be  treasured  by  the  descendants 
of  General  Whittingham,  as  an  invaluable  testimony  to 
his  merits  and  exertions  ;  second  only  to  the  compre- 
hensive certificate  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington. 


To  Major-General  Sir  Henry  Torrens.^ 

(Extract.) 

'  Saeagossa,  ^nd  Augtist,  1814. 

'  My  dear  Torrens, — ^Your  letter  of  the  12th  [ultimo] 
I  received  here  on  the  21st  July ;  and  am  most  parti- 
cularly obliged  for  the  leave  you  have  obtained  of  His 
Eoyal  Highness  the  Prince  Eegent,  and  His  Eoyal  High- 
ness the  Commander-in-Chief,  [for  me]  to  continue  my 
services  in  this  country. 

'  I  had  come  thus  far  on  my  route  to  Tarragona,  to 
attend  the  court-martial  of  Sir  John  Murray ;  but  on  my 
arrival  at  this  town,  I  received  intimation  that  it  would 
not  take  place  at  Tarragona,  but  was  transferred  to 
London. 

'  Previous  to  the  return  of  my  division  of  Cavalry  to 
Aragon,  we  had  a  field-day  before  the  King,  [at  Madrid] 
who  was  pleased  to  express  his  highest  satisfaction.  Im- 
mediately after  the  review^  His  Majesty  said  to  me,  "  In 
proof  of  how  much  I  esteem  you,  and  how  highly 
penetrated  I  am  with  [a  sense  of]  your  merit,  you 
will  receive  to-morrow  the  commission  of  Lieutenant- 
General." 

'  When  I  waited  upon  His  Majesty  to  inform  him  of 
the  honour  His  Eoyal  Highness  the  Prince  Eegent  had 

*  All  extracts  from  letters,  where  the  writers  are  not  named,  are  from  the 
letters  of  General  Whittingham. 


INQUISITION. — DERANGED    FINANCES.  241 

been  pleased  to  confer  upon  me,  and  to  ask  leave  to  re- 
turn to  England  for  eight  or  twelve  months,  His  Majesty- 
expressed  much  satisfaction  at  my  appointment.  At  the 
same  time  he  did  me  the  honour  to  say,  "  I  hope  that 
you  do  not  mean  to  quit  my  service.  Be  assured  it  would 
be  a  matter  of  great  grief  to  me  that  you  should  do  so." 

'  Many  things  have  taken  place  since  the  arrival  of 
His  Majesty  at  Madrid  which  will,  I  fear,  produce  much 
discontent ;  and  most  particularly  the  re-establishment  of 
the  Inquisition!  The  army  at  least  has  received  this 
[measure]  with  decided  disapprobation. 

'  The  question  of  the  Inquisition  was  long  and  warmly 
disputed.  The  Duke  of  San  Carlos ;  Macanar,  Minister 
of  Gracia  and  Justicia ;  Lardizaval,  Minister  of  [the] 
Indies ;  Escoiquez,  the  priest  who  accompanied  the 
King  to  France ;  were  decidedly  against  it :  and  His 
Majesty  had  said  that  he  Avould  take  no  determination 
till  the  reunion  of  the  Cortes,  "\vhen  he  would  submit 
the  question  to  their  decision.  But  the  weight  of 
influence  of  the  Infante  Don  Antonio ;  of  Ostalara 
confessor  to  the  Infimte  Don  Carlos  ;  of  the  Minister  of 
War,  Eguia  ;  of  the  Marquis  of  Palacio  ;  and  the  repre- 
sentations in  favour  of  its  re-establishment,  of  very  many 
towns ;  at  length  prevailed,  and  the  King  was  induced  to 
reauthorize  a  tribunal  of  secret  despotism,  and  to  legalize 
tyranny  of  the  worst  class. 

'  The  greatest,  or  at  least  the  most  pressing  evil,  how- 
ever, which  affects  this  country  is  the  deranged  state  of 
the  finances. 

'  Under  these  circumstances.  His  Majesty  ascended  the 
throne ;  and  although  orders  were  given  to  do  away 
[with]  the  income  tax,  and  to  re-establish  the  old  duties, 
yet  a  very  considerable  time  must  elapse  before  any  bene- 
ficial consequences  can  be  expected.'  * 

*  These  details  having  been  mentioned  in  a  previous  letter,  are  not  re- 
peated in  this  extract. 

R 


242  MEMOIR   OF    SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGIIAM. 

As  ill  his  letter  to  his  brother-in-law,  so  in  his  letter  to 
Sir  Henry  Torrens,  his  personal  attachment  and  partiality 
to  King  Ferdinand,  is  very  conspicuous.  That  plausible 
and  personally  popular  monarch,  by  his  gracious  smiles 
and  by  his  really  friendly  appreciation  of  the  Englishman 
who  had  served  him  so  well,  had  thrown  a  temporary 
veil  over  his  real  character  and  vices;  which  after  all 
were  those  of  a  weak  and  timid,  rather  than  of  a  de- 
praved and  wicked  nature. 

To  Sir  Henry  Torrens. 

(Extract.) 

'  Saeagossa,  SOth  September^  1814. 

'  My  dear  Torrens, — I  was  on  the  point  of  beginning 
my  journey  to  England  to  appear  as  a  witness  on  the 
trial  of  Sir  John  Murray,  when  I  received  a  letter  from 
Sir  John,  dated  Barcelona,  stating  that  he  was  still  in 
hopes,  in  consequence  of  his  representations,  that  the 
trial  would  take  place  in  Catalonia ;  and  requesting  that  I 
would  await  at  Saragossa  the  final  determination  of 
H.E.H.  the  Eegent.  I  have  now  received  a  letter  from 
him  saying  that  he  has  received  the  final  answer,  and 
that  the  trial  is  to  take  place  in  London^  to  which  place 
he  returns  by  land  to  France.' 

'  As  Sir  John  travels  through  France  with  his  own 
horses  and  carriage,  I  hope  to  be  in  England  as  soon  as 
he  can.     At  all  events,  the  difference  cannot  be  great. 

'  Could  I  have  avoided  quitting  Spain  at  this  moment,  I 
have  been  given  to  understand,  I  should  have  been  ap- 
pointed Inspector-General  of  Cavalry.  But  these  unlucky 
huts  must  at  times  happen  to  all  men. 

'  General  Mina,  on  receiving  the  order  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  deliver  up  the  command  of  his  troops  to  the 
Captain-General  of  Aragon,  Palafox,  has  refused  to  obey, 
and  is  at  present  in  open  rebelhon.     He  has,  however. 


TRIUMPHANT  ROYAL   ROUTE.  243 

few  followers :  most  of  his  battalions  have  come  over  to 
the  Captain-General.  He  still,  however,  keeps  the  field 
between  this  and  Pampeluna.  In  the  present  instance,  it 
would  not  be  possible  for  me  to  take  that  route  to  Eng- 
land. I  trust,  however,  that  a  few  days  will  put  an  end 
to  his  wild  enterprise.' 

The  following  account  of  Ferdinand  the  Seventh's 
return  to  his  kingdom  is  taken  from  the  often  quoted 
'  Eecollections,'  and  is  confirmed  by  the  letters  written  at 
the  period  in  question. 

'  Upon  the  King's  return  to  Spain,  I  advanced  to  the 
frontier  of  Aragon  to  meet  him,  distributing  a  sufficient 
force  of  Cavalry  to  form  His  Majesty's  escort  on  the  road, 
and  to  furnish  his  guard  at  night. 

'  The  charge  of  the  King's  person,  as  well  as  of  his 
brother  Don  Carlos,  and  of  his  uncle  Don  Antonio,  was 
made  over  to  me  on  the  frontier  of  Aragon,  by  General 
Copons,  then  commanding  in  Catalonia.  My  reception  by 
His  Majesty  and  the  Eoyal  family  was  infinitely  gracious 
and  most  flattering.  Our  marches  were  twenty  or  thirty 
miles  a  day.  The  coach  or  rather  landau  in  which  H.M. 
travelled  was  English  built.  The  roads  were  tolerably 
good,  and  the  royal  party  suffered  little  or  no  fatigue.  I 
rode  always  at  the  side  of  the  carriage,  and  we  generally 
arrived  at  our  resting-place  between  three  and  four  in  the 
afternoon,  having  started  at  about  half-past  nine.  I  always 
dined  with  the  King  during  the  march,  and  the  whole 
route  was  one  continued  scene  of  triumph.  I  never  saw 
such  a  wild  expression  of  joy  as  the  Spanish  people  uni- 
versally gave  way  to  on  the  return  of  their  King  from 
his  infamous-  captivity.  His  Majesty,  during  the  journey, 
was  constantly  occupied  in  studying  the  Constitution  which 
he  was  required  to  swear  to. 

'  As  I  rode  close  to  the  side  of  his  carriage,  he  often 
entered  into  conversation  with   me.     One  day  he  said, 

R  2 


244  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

"  Santiago,  you  will  hardly  imagine  what  book  I  am 
reading.  It  is  the  new  Spanish  Constitution,  formed  and 
published  by  the  Cortes  during  my  absence.  I  find  much 
that  is  good  in  it,  but  also  many  things  quite  inadmissible. 
Notwithstanding,  if  the  refusal  of  my  sanction  is  to  cost 
one  drop  of  Spanish  blood,  I  will  swear  to  it  to-morrow."  ^ 

'  Such  were  then  the  sentiments  of  Ferdinand.  His 
Majesty  remained  three  days  at  Saragossa,  and  did  me  the 
honour  to  inspect  the  two  thousand  cavalry  and  sixteen 
pieces  of  artillery,  at  my  head-quarters.  I  commanded 
the  field-day.  We  manoeuvred  in  two  lines  :  and  I  did 
everything  in  my  power  to  give  it  the  appearance  of  a  real 
action.  The  King  was  quite  enchanted,  and  thanked  me 
most  warmly  for  all  the  services  that  I  had  rendered  him 
during  his  absence. 

'  On  arriving  at  the  frontier  of  Aragon,  I  dismounted, 
and  requested  His  Majesty's  orders,  previously  to  making 
over  the  charge  of  his  royal  person  to  General  Elio,  who 
commanded  in  Valencia.  "  I  desire,"  said  His  Majesty  to 
me,  "  that  you  accompany  me  to  Valencia.  I  am  much 
pleased  with  you,  and  you  must  come  on  with  me." 

'  At  Valencia,  the  plot  began  to  thicken,  [General] 
Elio  was  a  violent  ultra-royalist ;  and  was  too  well  sup- 
ported by  a  host  of  fanatical  priests  and  grandees  ;  and 
hence  the  first  false  impressions  were  made  on  the  King's 
mind. 

'  General  Zayas  was  sent  to  sound  me :  for  the  Gene- 
ral commanding  so  large  a  body  of  cavalry  and  horse- 
artillery  was  too  important  a  person  to  be  neglected  at 
such  a  crisis.  "  If,"  said  I  to  Zayas,  "  you  are  sent  by 
order  of  His  Majesty  to  obtain  my  real  opinion  upon  the 
present  state  of  affairs,  I  shall  be  happy  to  submit  them 
frankly  and  fully,  for  I  conceive  the  measures  now  to  be 

*  Lo  jurar^  manana. — In  the  '  Hecolledtons^  all  the  royal  speeches  and  his 
own  answers  are  given  in  the  original  Spanish,  followed  by  the  English 
translations. 


MARCH    OX   MADEID.  245 

adopted  of  infinite  importance  to  the  well-being  of  His 
Majesty  and  of  the  Spanish  Nation. 

' "  In  my  opinion,  there  is  much  that  is  good  in  the 
new  Constitution  ;  but  as  there  is  also  much  which  re- 
quires to  be  modified,  it  is  not  in  His  Majesty's  power  to 
swear  to  it  in  its  present  form  ;  especially,  on  account  of 
the  article  which  requires  His  Majesty  to  swear  that  no 
change,  alteration,  or  modification  shall  take  place  for 
eight  years. 

' "  Still,  however,  it  must  be  kept  in  mind,  that  the 
Cortes  have  rendered  the  royal  cause  good  service  ;  and 
that  they  deserve  the  gratitude  of  the  King  and  of  the 
Spanish  Nation.  On  his  arrival  at  Madrid,  I  humbly 
conceive,  His  Majesty  should  in  person  thank  the  Cortes 
for  all  their  good  services,  and  express  his  intention  to 
invoke  the  ancient  Cortes  of  Spain,  for  their  opinion 
and  advice  ;  and  having  thus  announced  his  royal  will, 
that  His  Majesty  should  forthwith  dissolve  the  present 
Cortes." 

'  It  would  seem  that  my  opinions  were  not  approved 
of;  for,  the  next  day,  I  received  orders  to  return  to 
Saragossa,  with  the  escort  which  I  had  furnished  for  the 
King's  guard,  and  there  to  await  further  orders. 

'  In  the  meantime,  orders  were  despatched  to  Gene- 
ral Eguia,  at  Madrid,  to  arrest  a  number  of  the  leading 
members  of  the  liberal  party  ;  and  the  charge  of  the 
King's  person  was  made  over  to  General  Elio. 

'  A  few  days  after  my  arrival  at  Saragossa,  I  received 
orders  to  march  upon  Madrid  with  the  cavalry  and 
horse-artillery  under  my  orders.  On  my  arrival  at 
Guadalaxara,  I  was  directed  to  halt  until  further  orders  ; 
and  I  did  not  enter  the  capital  till  the  morning  of  the 
King's  entrance  ;  and  then  only  to  line  the  streets  in 
parade  order.  The  arrests  had  all  taken  place  several 
days  before. 

'  Nothing  can  give  a  true  picture  of  the  enthusiastic 


246  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

joy  manifested  by  the  people  of  Madrid,  on  seeing  their 
beloved  sovereign  once  again  amongst  them.  A  young 
and  handsome  manola  came  close  to  the  head  of  my 
charger,  and  shouted  with  a  most  audible  voice,  "May'st 
thou  be  blessed,  Ferdinand  of  my  soul ;  Thou  shalt  be  an 
absolute  King,  and  thou  shalt  always  do  whatever  may 
be  thy  royal  pleasure ;  and  if  it  be  thy  will  to  tread  us 
under  thy  royal  feet,  thy  will  and  pleasure  shall  be  our 
only  law !  " 

'  This  anecdote  brings  to  my  mind  a  circumstance, 
which  occurred  during  my  march  from  Saragossa  to  the 
frontier  of  Aragon,  to  meet  the  King.  I  had  received 
my  billet  in  the  house  of  a  most  respectable  yeoman,  and 
after  supper,  he  stated  his  utter  incapacity  to  comprehend 
the  meaning  of  the  doubts  and  difficulties  which  seemed 
to  be  generally  felt.  "  Whilst  the  master  was  absent," 
said  he,  "  I  understand  very  well  that  his  head  servants* 
must  act  in  his  name  ;  but  now  that  the  master  has 
returned  home,  what  have  the  servants  to  do  but  to  obey 
his  orders  ?  " 

•As  soon  as  the  King  had  entered  the  palace  [at 
Madrid],  the  troops  were  dismissed  ;  and  I  retired  to  my 
lodgings.  A  few  days  afterwards,  I  had  the  honour  of 
giving  His  Majesty  a  field-day  of  the  cavalry  and  horse- 
artillery,  which  so  highly  pleased  him  that  he  made  me  a 
Lieutenant-General  on  the  field. f 

'  My  favour  at  court  was  every  day  increasing ;  and 
I  had  it  in  my  power  to  be  of  service  to  Sir  Henry 
Wellesley,  as  he  has  been  pleased  to  state  in  his  letter  to 
Lord  Castlereagh.  But  TatischefF,  the  Eussian  Minister, 
was  too  cunning  for  the  straightforward  dealing  of 
English  diplomatists  ;  and  he  obtained  from  Ferdinand 

*  *  Los  criados  de  confianza.' 

t  From  the  correspondence  of  the  period  it  would  appear  that  King  Fer- 
dinand only  took  that  graceful  occasion  to  announce  the  reward  already 
intended  for  his  services. 


OFFERED   THE   MINISTRY   OF    WAR.  247 

the  Toison  d'or^  which  had  been  refused  to  Sir  Henry 
Wellesley. 

'  At  this  time  I  spent  almost  every  evening,  from  eight 
till  ten,  in  the  King's  private  apartment.  The  Queen 
often  joined  us  ;  and  conversation  was  as  free  and  as 
general  as  could  have  been  the  case  in  the  house  of  any 
private  gentleman.  His  Majesty  never  took  offence  at 
anything  that  I  said.  "  I  cannot  comprehend,"  said  I 
to  him  one  evening,  "  the  interest  which  your  Majesty 
takes  in  the  affairs  of  Eussia  !  Your  respective  coun- 
tries are  placed  in  the  opposite  extremes  of  Europe ; 
and  they  have  not,  nor  ever  can  have,  any  community  of 
interests.  On  the  other  hand,  England  offers  to  your 
Majesty  her  most  advantageous  friendship,  which  you 
appear  to  despise."  "What  an  excellent  Englishman 
thou  art,  Santiago  !  "  said  the  King  ;  "  would  to  God  all 
my  subjects  were  as  good  Spaniards ! " 

'  Some  time  afterwards,*  His  Majesty  proposed  to 
make  me  his  Minister  of  War.  I  submitted  the  proposal 
to  Sir  Henry  Wellesley  ;  and  he  referred  it  to  Lord 
Castlereagh,  who  declared  its  acceptance  to  be  in- 
compatible with  the  duties  of  a  British  officer ;  and 
particularly  with  those  of  an  aide-de-camp  of  the  King 
of  England. 

'  Shortly  after  this,  I  announced  to  the  King  my  inten- 
tion of  returning  to  England.  His  Majesty  and  the  In- 
fante Don  Antonio  were  full  of  expressions  of  grief  at 
my  departure ;  and  the  King  was  pleased  to  say, 
"  Santiago,  tell  me  what  you  wish,  and  on  condition  that 
you  do  not  leave  me,  there  is  nothing  in  my  power  that 
I  will  not  do  to  please  you."f  But  the  day  of  con- 
fidence was  passed  ;  and  I  could  not  make  up  my  mind 

*  This  may  mean  any  time  between  1815  and  1819  that  he  passed  in 
Madrid. 

t  "  Santiago,  dime  lo  que  deseas,  y  con  tal  que  no  te  vayas  y  te  quedes 
en  mi  servicio,  no  hay  cosa  en  mi  poder  que  no  hare  por  complacerte." 


248  MEMOIR   OF   SiPt   S.  l\  WHITOXGHAM. 

to  give  up  friends  and  country,  on  so  unstable  a  base 
as  the  caprice  of  a  weak  mind.  I  pledged  myself,  how- 
ever, to  return  to  Spain,  should  His  Majesty  call  for  my 
services.' 

They  were  destined  to  meet  again ;  but  the  history  of 
that  reunion  must  be  deferred  for  a  time,  and  form  part 
of  the  following  Chapter. 


249 


CHAPTER  XII. 

1815—1819. 

SIR  JOHN  Murray's  trial — sentence  op  admonishment  not  car- 
ried OUT— AN  ABSURD  PARLIAMENTARY  CALUMNY — A  DUEL  PREVENTED 
BY  THE  SPEAKER— QUARREL  ADJUSTED— COLONEL  CAMPBELL's  LETTER 
FROM  MADRID— HIS  DESCRIPTION  OP  THE  ANGLO-SPANISH  OFPICERS — 
GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM'S  APPOINTMENT  IN  THE  SPANISH  ARMY — 
PAILED  TO  OBTAIN  EMPLOY  WITH  BRITISH  TROOPS — WANT  OF  RANK  IN 
THE  BRITISH  ARMY — THE  SECRET  DISPATCH — ARISTOCRATIC  NATURE 
OP  WELLINGTON — COMMISSIONERSHIP   WITH   AUSTRIAN  ARMY    DECLINED 

THE   SPANISH .  OPFER   PREFERRED — GEORGE    IV.'s    AIDE-DE-CAMPSHIP 

NO  SINECURE — DUKE  OF  YORK'S  LETTER  TO  SIR  HENRY  WELLESLEY — 
DISAPPOINTING  PEACE — GRAND  CROSS  OF  SAN  FERNANDO— STATE  OF 
FINANCES  IN  SPAIN— GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM's  MEMOIR  TO  THE  KING 
ON  THE  SLAVE  TRADE — WHY  UNEMPLOYED  AT  MADRID — ROYAL  FAVOUR 
— RUSSIAN  INFLUENCE — MR.  B.  FRERe's  ENGAGEMENT — AN  EXPENSIVE 
HONOUR  FOR  LADY  WHITTINGHAM  DECLINED— LEGITIMATELY  EXERCISED 
INFLUENCE— EXPLANATION  OF  HIS  CONDUCT  TO  LORD*  CASTLEREAGH — 
DECLINES  ALL  REWARDS — THE  ONLY  FAVOUR  ASKED  OF  THE  KING — 
GOVERNMENT  DECLINED — SERVICES  UNREWARDED — STARVATION  IN  THE 
MIDST  OF  HONOURS — MR.  VAUGHAN'S  RECOMMENDATION  OF  THE 
GENERAL — HIS  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICES  TO  MR.  VAUGHAN — DIPLOMATIC 
SERVICES  TO  SIR  HENRY  WELLESLEY — COMMERCIAL  SERVICES  TO  HIS 
BROTHER-IN-LAW — INTRODUCES  HIS  NEPHEW  TO  THE  BEST  SOCIETY — 
MARRIAGE  OF  MR.  B.  FRERE  BY  PROXY'^ — SIR  H.  WELLESLEY's  LETTER 
TO  THE  DUKE  OF  YORK — THE  ROYAL  REPLY — PLENTY  OP  PRAISE,  NO 
REWARDS — TROUBLES  IN  SPAIN — DEFENCE  OF  THE  KING  A  POINT  OF 
HONOUR — DECLINE  OF  ENGLISH  AND  RISE  OF  RUSSIAN*  INFLUENCE — 
SECRET  NEGOCIATIONS  BY  THE  RUSSIAN  MINISTER — DEATH  OF  MRS.  B. 
PRERE — GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM  LEAVES  MADRID — HIS  SUCCESS  AGAINST 
THE  SLAVE  TRADE — CHAMOIS-HUNTING  IN  THE  PYRENEES — OFFERED 
THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  DOMINICA — BIDS  FAREWELL  TO  THE  KING  OF 
SPAIN — AN  ATTENTIVE  ROYAL  HOST — OPINION  APPLAUDED  BUT  NOT 
FOLLOWED — THE  AMBASSADOR'S  PINAL  TESTIMONY — NOTHING  ASK,  NO- 
THING HAVE — GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM 's  LETTER  TO  MR.  MURDOCH — 
FRUITLESS  MISSION  OF  THE  COUNT  DE  CORRES — LORD  CASTLEREAGH's 
TESTIMONY  OF  MR.  DAVIS — BARON  HUGEL's  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE 
WEST  INDIES. 


250  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

At  the  commencement  of  1815,  Colonel  Whittingliam  for 
the  second  time  in  his  life  had  to  perform  the  disagreeable 
duty  of  giving  evidence  on  the  court-martial  of  a  Com- 
mander under  whom  he  had  served.  But  in  the  case  of 
Sir  John  Murray,  Baronet,  his  task  was  light  compared  to 
what  it  had  been  on  the  trial  of  General  Whitelocke  in 
1808. 

Lieut. -General  Sir  John  Murray  was  tried  by  a  court- 
martial  that  sat  in  London  from  the  16th  January  to  the 
7th  February.  He  was  tried  (for  his  conduct  in  June 
1813)  on  three  charges  ;  the  first  implying  imprudence 
in  his  plans ;  and  the  second,  disobedience  of  orders. 
But  of  both  these  charges  he  was  fully  and  honourably 
acquitted.  The  third  and  last  charge  was  for  his  hasty 
embarkation  after  raising  the  siege  of  Tarragona,  although 
no  enemy  was  near  ;  whereby  he  unnecessarily  lost  guns 
and  stores.  He  was  found  guilty  of  '  an  error  of  judg- 
ment '  *  in  regard  to  these  losses,  as  specified  in  a  part  of 
the  last  charge  ;  and  he  was  sentenced  to  be  admonished. 
But  the  Prince  Eegent  thought  it  needless  to  admonish 
for  an  error  of  judgment,  and  the  result  was  a  virtual 
acquittal. 

Soon  after  this  trial.  General  Whittingham,  (for  so  he 
was  styled  on  this  occasion)  became  the  object  of  a  par- 
liamentary calumny,  which  might  be  termed  atrocious, 
had  it  not  been  too  ridiculous  to  merit  so  strong  a  de- 
nunciation ;  and  he  sent  to  his  friend.  Sir  Henry  Torrens, 
a  Bristol  newspaper,  giving  an  account  of  an  exciting 
scene  in  the  House  of  Commons,  in  fuller  details  than 
were  inserted  in  the  London  press. 

It  is  needless  to  reproduce  the  details  of  this  calumny. 
It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  Mr.  Whitbread  in  fact  argued 
as  if  General  Whittingham  f  were  responsible  for  all  the 

*  His  errors  in  judgment  were  numerous,  but  Lord  Wellington  acknow- 
ledged his  abilities,  and  be  was  otherwise  a  worthy  man. 

t  As   his   services   for   the    greater  part   of   the  war  had    been    per- 


AN   ABSURD    PARLIAMENTARY  .CALUMNY.  251 

pecuniary  assistance  which  the  English  Ambassador^  and 
the  English  Commander-in-Chief  had ^  with  the  consent  of 
the  English  Government^  given  to  their  Spanish  allies! 
But  not  satisfied  with  this  absurdity,  he  was  not  ashamed, 
in  the  hope  of  shaking  a  ministry,  to  accuse  an  Enghsh 
officer  of  distinction  of  having  received  more  than  50,000/. 
as  a  bribe  to  place  Ferdinand  VII.  on  a  despotic  throne  ; 
the  fact  being  that  the  accused  officer  had  lately  returned 
to  England  a  far  poorer  man  than  when  he  had  left  it ; 
having  spent  a  considerable  part  of  his  private  patrimony 
on  his  commissions  and  in  the  public  service  !  But  the 
waves  of  party  spirit  then  ran  mountains  high ;  and  even 
the  great  Duke  himself  did  not  escape  their  fury ;  as  he 
has  recorded  in  his  immortal  '  Dispatches.' 

Mr.  Hart  Davis,  member  for  Bristol,  the  affectionate 
brother-in-law  of  the  calumniated  General,  a  man  of  high 
character,  naturally  retorted  with  spirit  on  the  privileged 
calumniator,  and  a  duel  appeared  imminent.  The  affair 
is  thus  recorded  by  the  Bristol  journal.  [After  Mr. 
Whitbread's  motion  had  been  made  and  rejected.]  '  The 
House  had  proceeded  to  the  order  of  the  day,  when  the 
gentlemen  above  named  retired.  The  speaker  felt  it  to 
be  his  duty  on  the  instant,  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
House  to  the  conduct  of  two  of  its  members,  and  to  re- 
quire that  the  individuals  to  whom  he  referred  should  be 
immediately  called  back,  to  give  the  House  their  assur- 
ances that  no  further  proceedings  should  take  place  in 
consequence  of  what  had  fallen  from  them  in  the  course 
of  debate.'  [The  members  were  brought  back,  and  the 
gallery  was  cleared],  'Strangers  were  not  again  ad- 
mitted, but  we  understand  the  Hon.  Gentlemen  readily 
gave  the  assurances  required,  and  the  business  was  in  a 
few  minutes  satisfactorily  adjusted.'  The  Bristol  paper 
which  had  warmly  taken  the  part  '  of  our  gallant  towns- 
man, General  Whittingham,'  ends  its  article  by  stating  : 

formed  in  the  rank  of  General  it  was  natural  he  should  be  so  called  in 
Parliament. 


252  MEMOIR  .OP    SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  General  Whittingham  is  at  this  time  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Davis  at  Chfton ; '  one  of  the  brief  and  rare  visits,  that  he 
paid  to  his  native  country. 

Whilst  he  was  thus  calumniated  in  England,  in  Spain  on 
the  contrary — let  it  be  said  in  justice  to  the  Spaniards — his 
merits  were  still  appreciated. 

The  following  letter  was  written  by  an  excellent  officer 
and  brave  man,  who  was  also  a  most  estimable  gentleman 
in  private  life  : — 


Colonel  *  Patrick  Campbell  to  General  Whittingham. 

(Extract.) 

'Madkid,  2^th  March,  1815. 

'  Whatever  faihngs  or  vices  I  may  have,  ingratitude  is 
not  amongst  them  :  and  truly  ungrateful  should  I  be,  were 
I  to  forget  one  to  whom  I  owe  so  very  much,  and  who 
has  shown  me  so  many  acts  of  friendship.  Most  heartily 
do  I  rejoice  at  the  very  handsome  reception  you  have  re- 
ceived from  the  Prince  Eegent.  I  would  to  God  that  you 
were  here  again.  A.f  at  present  is  the  only  countryman 
of  ours  at  this  moment  in  the  peninsula,  who  has  any 
reputation.  B.  and  C.  are  only  spoken  of  in  derision.  D. 
is  never  mentioned  at  all.  You,  however,  are  always 
mentioned  both  with  respect  for  talents,  and  instruction, 
and  [with]  enthusiasm  for  your  gallantry.  An  army  of 
8,000  men  is  ordered  to  be  formed  on  the  frontier,  in 
consequence  of  the  escape  of  Buonaparte.  Who  is  to 
command  is  yet  a  secret.  Castanos  has  offered  his  ser- 
vices ;  and  some  say  he  is  to  command.  Others  say,  the 
Infante  Don  Carlos  is  to  go  there :  but  the  present  de- 
ranged state  of  the  finances  will  not  bear  that  additional 
expense. 

'  My  business  of  Brigadier  is    not  yet  decided.     Sir 

*  He  was  then  Major  in  the  British,  and  Colonel  in  the  Spanish,  service, 
t  A.  B.  C.  D.     These  letters  are  used  to  conceal  real  names. 


COLONEL  Campbell's  letter  from  Madrid.       253 

Henry  [Wellesley]  however,  has  done  whatever  he  could  ; 
and  in  consequence  Ceballos  wrote  to  Eguia.  But  he  is 
such  an  enemy  to  everything  English,  that  he  tries  all  he 
can  to  delay  it.  I  have  got  the  supernumerary  cross  of 
Charles  III.  I  do  not  think  old  Herasti  will  ever  go  to 
Barcelona.  I  would  you  were  here,  as  that  is  the  best 
Government  in  Spain  ;  and,  as  you  know,  if  one  is  not  on 
the  spot  nothing  is  obtained.  I  wish  much  you  would 
speak  to  Sir  Henry  Torrens  for  the  rank  of  Lieut. -Colonel 
[for  me].  You  were  my  Commander-in-Chief;  and  con- 
sequently, the  only  one  who  can  recommend  me.  It  is 
the  step  of  the  greatest  importance  to  me.  How  does 
Mrs.  Whittingham  like  England?  What  an  infamous, 
shameful,  and  lying  attack  Whitbread  has  made !  I  saw 
it  here  in  the  English  papers.  He  talks  of  52,000/.  as 
given  to  you  for  your  own  purposes  ;  and  you  above  all 
men ;  who^  it  may  he  said,  never  even  saw  the  public 
7noney,  much  less  handled  it.^  I  wish  you  could  tell  me, 
how  we  serving  here  are  to  be  considered,  particularly 
Don  Patricio  Campbell,  as  I  am  much  interested  about 
him,  Castaiios  and  Zayas  are  well,  Giron  is  in  Seville, 
Serrano  is  in  Badajos.' 

Colonel  Patrick  Campbell  was  in  Spain  usually  styled 
'  Don  Patricio  Campbell '  to  which  he  playfully  alludes. 
As  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  Light  Infantry  Eegiment  of 
the  Majorca  division,  as  well  as  on  the  Staff  of  General 
Whittingham,  he  had  always  distinguished  himself  greatly 
by  zeal,  intelligence  and  courage,  and,  as  usual  with  all 
who  served  under  the  General,  was  devotedly  and  per- 
manently attached  to  his  Chief. 

Meantime  the  escape  of  the  great  Napoleon  had  again 
aroused  to  arms  the  greater  part  of  Europe  ;  and  reopened 
prospects  of  fresh,  distinction  to  all  soldiers  : — 

*  General  Whittingham  had  had  the  responsibility,  had  negotiated  the 
bills,  and  conducted  the  correspondence ;  but  until  Paymaster  Foley  was 
appointed,  Colonel  Campbell  performed  the  actual  payments  required. 


254  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 


To  Major- General  Sir  Henry  Torrens. 

<  LoNDOi^,  2^th  May,  1815. 

'Sir, — I  have  the  honour  to  inform  you,  that  I  re- 
ceived by  last  mail  my  appointment  of  Lieutenant-General 
employed  in  the  army  of  Catalonia  under  the  orders  of 
General  Castanos.  I  have  therefore  to  request  you  will 
be  pleased  to  submit  this  appointment  to  the  considera- 
tion of  H.E.H.  the  Commander-in-Chief ;  and  at  the  same 
time  that  you  will  express  my  hope  that  H.E.H.  will 
condescend  to  allow  me  to  proceed  to  Spain  immediately. 

'  Having  failed  in  my  solicitations  for  employment  in 
Flanders ^^  I  am  anxious  to  join  the  army  in  Catalonia 
with  as  little  delay  as  possible ;  and  as  my  appointment 
there  has  taken  place,  I  cannot,  I  conceive,  use  too  much 
expedition  in  getting  to  my  post.  I  have  the  honour 
to  be.  Sir, 

'  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

This  letter  establishes  the  fact,  that  he  had  previously 
desired  rather  to  serve  under  Wellington  as  a  Colonel, 
than  with  the  Spaniards  as  a  Lieutenant-General.  Had 
his  request  been  granted,  he  would  doubtless  have  justi- 
fied himself  to  the  King  of  Spain,  under  the  sound  plea 
that  there  was  no  danger  to  be  immediately  apprehended 
in  Spain  from  j^apoleon,  as  was  well-known  to  be  the 
case. 

The  word  solicitations  being  in  the  plural,  there  rests 
a  strong  suspicion  in  the  Editor's  mind,  that  Colonel 
Whittingham,  not  only  applied  direct  to  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  but  did  so  also  through  His  Eoyal  Highness 

*  Till  perusing  the  words  now  placed  in  Italics,  the  Editor  was  wholly 
unaware  of  the  fact  of  such  applications.  No  doubt  their  refusal  had  been 
too  sore  a  subject  to  mention^  in  spite  of  the  flattering  terms  in  which  they 
had  been  couched. 


FAILS   TO   OBTAIN   EMPLOYMENT   IN   BRITISH    ARMY.       255 

the  Duke  of  Kent.  In  short  the  Editor  has  soijie  reason 
to  believe  that  the  letter  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
dated  'Bruxelles,  14th  April,  1815,'  and  addressed  to 
Her  Majesty's-  illustrious  father,  refers  to  Colonel  Whit- 
tingham.  Colonel  Gurwood  having  unfortunately  left 
this  name  in  blank,  and  none  of  the  original  appli- 
cations having  reached  the  Editor's  hands,  the  matter 
must  remain  for  the  present  doubtful.  To  desire  eagerly 
to  serve  under  the  Duke  of  Wellington  was  sufficiently 
praiseworthy  to  have  justified  Gurwood  in  printing  the 
name  of  the  rejected  applicant,  especially  as  the  rejection 
was  coupled  with  the  flattering  words ;  '  he  knows  that 
if  I  could  have  gratified  him  I  would  have  done  so, 
without  the  aid  of  your  Eoyal  Highness's  powerful 
influence.'* 

There  can  be  no  question,  however,  that  besides  merit, 
some  high  aristocratic  connection  was  required  at  that 
moment,  to  obtain  a  place  on  the  Staff*,  then  ambitioned 
by  hundreds  of  meritorious  officers.  It  was  no  disgrace 
to  fail  in  such  an  application,  but  ratlier  a  high  honour 
when  accompanied  by  an  observation,  which  so  plainly 
and  strongly  imphed  that  no  want  of  merit  occasioned 
the  writer's  non-compliance  with  the  request.  If  a  list 
were  made  of  all  those  who  served  on  the  great  Duke's 
staff*  throughout  his  life,  it  w^ould  be  found  that  birth  or 
rank  had  ever  the  strongest  claims  on  his  favour ;  and 
that  the  kind  of  liberality  which  was  so  frequently  dis- 
played by  kings  and  royal  dukes,  was  never  one  of  the 
traits  of  the  essentially  aristocratic  as  well  as  illustrious 
Duke  of  Welhngton. 

It  appears,  however,  that  though  to  serve  under  the 
Duke,  Sir  Samford  would  have  retired  from  the  Spanish 
service,  this  was  before  his  services  had  been  called  for 
by  the  Spanish  King.     For  he  declined  (subsequently) 

*  Vol.  xii.  of  Wellington  Dispatches,  page  308,  edition  1838. 


256  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGITAM. 

the  offer,  of  the  post  of  British  Commissioner  to  the 
Austrian  army,  when  offered  to  him  by  Lord  Castlereagh. 
Now  that  he  was  once  more  going  to  serve  in  Spain,  he 
became  again  a  General  even  at  the  Horse-Guards.  He 
had  also  been  made  C.B.  and  knighted.* 

To  Lieutenant-General  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

'HoKSE-GuAEDS,  '2nd  June,  1815. 

'  Sir, — I  have  not  failed  to  lay  before  the  Commander- 
in-Chief  your  letter  of  the  28th  ultimo,  communicating 
to  me,  for  His  Eoyal  Highness's  information  that  you  had 
received  your  appointment  of  Lieutenant-General  em- 
ployed in  the  army  under  General  Castaiios ;  and  re- 
questing permission  to  proceed  to  Spain  to  join  the 
same  in  Catalonia. 

'I  have  His  Eoyal  Highness's  commands  to  acquaint 
you  that  as  circumstances  do  not  admit  of  your  talents 
and  experience  being  rendered  available  to  the  services  of 
the  British  army  itself,  in  a  manner  adequate  to  your 
claims  and  pretensions,  he  can  have  no  objection  to  your 
being  employed  in  the  general  cause,  by  assuming  the 
duties  in  the  Spanish  army  to  which  you  have  been 
called  in  so  flattering  a  manner  by  His  Catholic  Majesty. 
I  am  therefore  charged  by  the  Commander-in-Chief  to 
apprize  you,  that  you  have  the  Prince  Eegent's  leave  of 
absence  to  proceed  to  Spain  without  delay ;  and  likew^ise 
His  Eoyal  Highness's  special  permission  to  absent  yourself 
for  the  same  purpose  from  your  situation  in  the  house- 
hold.    I  have  the  honour  to  be,  Sir, 

'  Your  most  faithful  and  obedient  humble  servant, 

'  H.  TOEEENS.' 

*  Lieutenant-General  Sir  Samford  Whittingham.' 

The  reference  at  the  close  of  this  letter,  to  the  duties  of 
aide-de-camp  to  the  Prince  Eegent,  gives  occasion  to  state 

*  At  that  time  no  one  could  be  made  K.C.B.  under  the  rank  of  Major- 
General ;  but  distinguished  officers,  who  had  earned  the  C.B.  were  sometimes 
kniffhted. 


THE    SPANISH    0FFP:R    PREFERRED.  257 

that  in  this  capacity  Colonel  Whittingham  appears  to  have 
been  very  successful.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  he  did 
not  write  of  George  IV.,  similar  recollections  to  those  he 
has  left  of  Ferdinand  VII.  The  Enghsli  monarch,  there 
is  reason  to  believe,  treated  him  with  scarcely  less  kind- 
ness tlmn  did  the  Spanish  sovereign  : — and  he  used  when 
on  duty,  to  be  called  into  the  royal  private  apartment, 
to  be  consulted  as  to  the  equipment  and  clothing  of  the 
cavalry.  At  the  levees  also,  owing  to  their  rarity,  and 
consequent  crowding,  the  post  of  Eoyal  aide-de-camp 
would  appear  to  have  been  no  sinecure  at  that  period  ; 
and  physical  strength  was  quite  as  needful  a  qualification 
as  courtly  manners  and  bearing.  At  the  royal  drawing- 
rooms  especially  the  crush  was  tremendous.  There  also 
the  King  alone  receiving  the  ladies,  it  sometimes  happened 
when  some  bashful  young  persons  were  to  receive  the 
royal  lip  salute^  that  they  required  to  be  almost  forcibly 
propelled  up  to  the  dreaded  spot. 

We  revert  to  the  '  Eecollections ' : — 

'  Not  long  after  my  return  to  England,  Napoleon  re- 
seated himself  on  the  throne  of  France ;  and  a  general 
war  was  the  consequence.  I  received  a  letter  from 
[Count]  Montenegro,  written  by  order  of  the  King  of 
Spain,  desiring  me  to  return  immediately  to  take  the  com- 
mand of  the  cavalry,  under  General  Castaiios,*  who  had 
been  appointed  Commander-in-Chief.  I  accepted  the 
offer,  and  was  preparing  for  my  departiu'e,  when  Lord 
Castle reagh  sent  for  me  to  inform  me,  that  he  purposed 
sending  me  as  British  commissioner,  with  rank  and  pay  of 
Brigadier-General,  and  1000/.  per  annum  extra  allowance, 
to  the  head-quarters  of  the  Austrian  army,  about  to  ad- 
vance upon  Lyons. 

'  I  stated  to  him  the  position  in  which  I  stood  to  the 
King  of  Spain,  should  His  Majesty  call  for  my  services. 

*  His  old  patron  and  friend  had  been  created  Duke  of  Baylen,  in  honour 
of  the  first  victory  gained  over  the  French  in  the  Peninsular  war. 

S 


258  MEMOIR    OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

His  Lordship  gave  it  as  his  opinion,  that  under  all  the 
circumstances,   he  thought  I   was   bound  in   honour  to 

return  to  Spain.' 

General  Whittingham  took  with  him  on  his  return  to 
Spain,  for  which  he  embarked  from  Falmouth,  with 
part  of  his  family  on  the  30th  June,  the  following  letter, 
for  the  English  Ambassador  : — 

The  Duke  of  York  to  Sir  Henry  Wellesley. 

'  Horse-Gtjards,  14th  Jmw,  1815. 

'Sir, —  Colonel  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  having  been 
called  to  a  command  in  the  Spanish  army  according  to 
his  rank  of  Lieutenant- General  in  the  service  of  His 
Catholic  Majesty,  I  have  to  acquaint  you  that  the  Prince 
Eegent  has  been  graciously  pleased  to  approve  his  ac- 
ceptance of  the  same  :  and  I  cannot  permit  this  deserving 
and  distinguished  officer  to  take  his  departure  from  this 
country  without  making  him  the  bearer  of  my  desire 
that  you  will  be  pleased  in  your  diplomatic  as  well  as  in 
your  private  character,  to  show  him  all  the  countenance 
and  attention  which  a  British  officer  in  a  foreign  army 
may  frequently  require  from  a  person  in  your  high 
position. 

'  It  may  be  necessary  to  add,  that  a  sense  of  Sir  Samford 
Whittingham's  merits  would  have  made  me  desirous  of 
affording  him  employment  in  the  British  army  now  in 
the  field ;  and  it  has  only  been  in  the  impracticability  of 
making  an  arrangement  suitable  to  his  pretensions,  that 
I  have  been  induced  to  facilitate  the  permission  he  has 
received  to  serve  in  the  Spanish  army.* 

'  I  have,  &c. 

'  Frederick. 

*  Commander-in-Chief.' 

*  Being  only  Colonel  in  the  English  army,  he  was  not  eligible  to  a  high 
command  with  the  troops  of  his  own  country,  by  the  then  inexorable  laws 


LETTER   TO   SIR   II.    TORRENS.  259 

His  return  to  the  Peninsula  is  thus  described  in  his 
'  Eecollections : '  '  On  my  arrival  in  Spain  I  found  the 
war  at  an  end ;  for  the  battle  of  Waterloo  had  taken 
place,  and  I  had  not  only  lost  the  opportunity  of  being 
present  at  that  memorable  action,  but  I  had  also  deprived 
myself  of  the  advantage  of  forming  part  of  the  army  of 
occupation  commanded  by  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  whose 
field-days  at  the  head  of  the  principal  armies  of  Europe 
formed  the  best  school  for  grand  military  operations.' 

He  here  alludes  to  his  rejection  of  Lord  Castlereagh's 
offers,  which,  however,  was  under  the  circumstances  un- 
avoidable. 

To  Sir  Henry  Torrens. 

(Extract.) 

'  Madrid,  8^A  August,  1815. 

'  111  health  and  bad  spirits  have  made  me  delay  writing 
to  you  till  I  am  almost  ashamed  to  take  up  the  pen.  It 
appears  to  me  very  doubtful  whether  I  shall  go  to  Cata- 
lonia or  not.  The  minister  of  war,  Ballasteros,  has  recom- 
mended me  to  wait  for  General  Castanos's  answer. 

'It  has  been  determined*  that  the  division  of  Majorca, 
which  I  had  the  honour  to  command  during  the  late 
war,  and  which  consisted  of  eight  battalions  of  infantry, 
two  regiments  of  cavalry,  and  two  troops  of  horse-artil- 
lery, formed  a  separate  corps  d'armee^  and  that  the  cross 
which  I  received  as  General  of  Division,  should  have  been 
the  grand  cross  of  [a  commander  of]  a  corps  d'armee. 
In  consequence  I  have  received  the  grand  cross,  and 
kissed  the  King's  hand  upon  this  new  honour.f     Now, 

of  routine,  though  he  had  for  so  many  years  commanded  in  the  field  as  a 
general  officer  to  the  full  satisfaction  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington. 

*  That  is,  decided  by  the  Spanish  Government. 

f  The  London  Gazette  of  the  28th  November,  1815,  sanctions  the  wearing 
of  this  order  'with  which  His  Catholic  Majesty  has  been  pleased  to  honour 
him,  as  a  signal  testimony  of  His  Catholic  Majesty's  approbation  of  the 
distinguished  services  rendered  by  that  officer  on  the  field  of  battle,  during 
the  Peninsular  war.' 

s  2 


260  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

in  the  true  spirit  of  cliivalry,  I  pray  you  to  lay  the  grand 
cross  at  the  feet  of  Lady  Torrens,  and  to  assure  her  that 
all  my  knightly  services  are  at  her  command. 

'  I  assure  you,  we  often  talk  of  our  trip  to  Cheltenham  ; 
and  look  back  with  delight  upon  the  gaiety  and  constant 
good  humour  of  our  quartetto !  Alas !  what  a  contrast 
did  our  journey  from  Corufia  to  Madrid  form.  Galicia, 
naturally  poor  and  wretched  and  now  desolate  by  the  late 
war,  is  miserable  beyond  expression.  Nor  is  it  possible 
that  anyone  could  form  an  idea  of  want  and  woe  equal  to 
what  you  meet  with  from  Corufia  to  Madrid. 

'  The  state  of  the  finances  is  so  very  shocking  that  I 
can  only  convey  to  you  an  idea  of  it  by  saying  that 
many,  very  many,  meritorious  officers  would  ere  this  have 
perished  from  absolute  want  had  they  not  received  their 
daily  food,  and  even  a  room  to  sleep  in,  from  the  charity 
of  the  convents !  How  long  this  can  last,  God  only  knows. 
In  any  other  country  in  Europe  it  could  not  have  subsisted 
so  long  ;  but  even  here  the  discontent,  particularly  of  the 
army,  is  great,  and  sooner  or  later  evil  must  arise. 

'  This  is  a  sad  picture,  my  dear  Torrens,  and  would 
to  God  it  were  not  so  very  true ;  still  resources  might 
be  found ;  but  the  good  and  amiable  Ferdinand  is  sur- 
rounded by  men  of  little,  miserable  minds,  incapable  of 
doing  good,  but  very  well  disposed  to  do  evil.' 

To  his  brother-in-law,  he  had  written,  on  the  7th  August, 
a  long  letter  to  the  same  effect,  adding  that  he  received 
no  Spanish  pay  as  Lieutenant-General  owing  to  the  state 
of  the  finances. 

The  great  afiability  of  the  King,  and  his  flattering  par- 
tiality for  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  inclined  the  latter, 
for  some  time,  to  regard  his  weaknesses  with  indulgence, 
and  to  throw  the  blame  of  his  conduct  upon  his  Ministers. 
Indeed  Ferdinand  does  not  appear  to  have  been  a  man  of 
bad  natural  disposition,  and  he  was  certainly  very  amiable 


PAPER  ON  THE  SLAVE  TRADE.         261 

in  private  life.  But  his  narrow  and  bigoted  education 
and  liis  want  of  discernment,  incapacitated  him  from  being 
a  good  ruler,  and  his  reign  was  mainly  tolerated  on  ac- 
count of  his  personal  popularity  amongst  the  mass  of  his 
subjects,  especially  the  lower  orders.  This  feeling  the 
King  appears  to  have  cultivated  in  a  manner  resembling 
that  of  our  Charles  II. ;  minus,  however,  the  immorality, 
for  His  Majesty  was  a  very  good  husband.  Sir  Samford 
used  to  relate  how  Ferdinand,  when  handing  his  beautiful 
Queen  Christina  into  the  royal  carriage,  would  turn  round 
smilingly  on  the  loyal  crowd,  and  observe  familiarly  to 
them,  '  Is  site  not  a  fine  woman  V  or  some  similar  remark. 

By  desire  of  the  King  of  Spain,  General  Whittingham 
wrote  a  long  Spanish  paper  on  the  reasons  that  should 
induce  his  Majesty  to  abolish  the  Slave  Trade.  This 
request  was  the  result  of  a  conversation  with  his  Majesty, 
for  Sir  Samford  now  felt  it  his  duty  to  use  what  influence 
he  had  with  the  King,  in  favour  of  civilization  and  good 
government,  reluctant  though  he  was  as  a  thorough 
soldier  to  embark  in  matters  which  savoured  of  political 
intrigues.  But  ample  proofs  exist  of  the  noble  and  patri- 
otic manner  in  which  he  exercised  his  influence  with  the 
Spanish  King,  and  especially  in  the  letters  of  His  Britannic 
Majesty's  representatives  at  Madrid. 

Meantime,  as  the  war  was  over  and  his  active  services 
were  no  longer  required  for  the  safety  of  the  country,  the 
jealousy  regarding  the  employment  of  an  Englishman, 
(who  as  such  could  not  but  be  too  partial  to  liberty  in 
royal  eyes,)  in  a  high  military  command,  coupled  with 
the  intrigues  of  courtiers  in  Spain  and  the  calumnies  pro- 
pagated at  home,  all  combined  to  deter  General  Whitting- 
ham from  either  seeking  for,  or  obtaining,  a  high  com- 
mand. If,  indeed,  he  would  have  consented  to  abandon 
his  own  service,  (in  which,  for  want  of  military  rank,  he 
could  expect  for  many  years  only  a  very  subordinate  posi- 
tion) there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  a  fine  career 


262  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

was  before  liim ;  but  to  this  idea  lie  never  could  resign 
himself,  though  sometimes  tempted  to  it  by  natural  am- 
bition of  distinction,  and  by  the  laudable  desire  of  com- 
manding armies  for  which  he  felt  himself  fully  capable. 

His  voluminous  correspondence  from  1815  to  1820 
shows  but  too  clearly  how  his  active  mind  revolted  from 
the  compulsory  idleness,  in  a  military  point  of  view,  to 
which  he  was  at  this  period  condemned  by  uncontrollable 
circumstances,  however  useful  he  frequently  was  to  the 
embassy  at  Madrid.  Brief  extracts  of  his  correspondence 
are  all  that  can  be  laid  before  the  reader. 

The  following  relates  to  his  claims  for  a  small  pension 
from  the  British  Government,  afterwards  granted  to  him 
on  the  same  terms  as  other  officers  similarly  situated. 
He  had  now  no  salary  except  his  half-pay  as  a  British 
Lieutenant-Colonel,  and  was  involved  in  difficulties. 


To  his  Brother-in-law, 

'  Madrid,  15th  Septembei'^  1815. 

'  I  was,  as  you  know,  employed  by  Mr.  Pitt  on  a  secret 
mission  to  Portugal.  My  expenses  were,  as  you  also  know, 
very  great ;  but  notwithstanding  Mr.  Pitt's  generous  offers 
of  remuneration  upon  my  return  to  England,  I  declined 
receiving  any  reimbursement  of  my  expenses,  and  felt 
happy  at  being  able  to  render  what  was  then  thought 
a  good  service,  without  the  possibility  of  having  my  mo- 
tives misinterpreted. 

'  In  the  Spanish  service,  I  never  received  any  pay  as 
Colonel,  Brigadier,  or  Major-General,  till  I  was  appointed 
to  the  command  of  the  cavalry  in  the  Island  of  Leon,  and 
the  scale  of  my  expenses  in  consequence  unavoidably  in- 
creased. 

'Would  to  God  I  could  follow  the  same  system  at 
present!  but  the  diminution  of  my  private  fortune  by 
unavoidable  expenses,  and  the  increase  of  my  family, 


ENDEAVOUKS   TO   COUNTERACT    RUSSIA.  263 

have  placed  me  in  a  situation,  in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view, 
very  different  from  that  I  have  heretofore  enjoyed.' 

General  Whittingham  endeavoured  to  counteract  by 
his  influence  with  the  King  the  overbearing  influence  of 
the  Eussian  Ambassador  and  the  Holy -Alliance  principles 
which  the  latter  warmly  advocated.  In  a  letter  of  the 
24th  ISTovember,  he  writes  to  his  brother-in-law :  '  I  have 
been  able  to  render  some  good  service  of  late.*  The 
King  continues  his  decided  partiality  towards  me  ;  I  have 
frequent  interviews  and  conversations  with  him.  I  have 
had  many  opportunities  of  studying  Mr.  Vaughan  lately  ;f 
I  do  not  think  our  affairs  could  be  in  better  hands.' 

But  King  Ferdinand  could  not  forgive  the  evident  sym- 
pathy of  England  with  his  revolted  colonies,  and  threw 
himself  the  more  readily  into  the  arms  of  Eussia. 

To  detail  all  the  circumstances  that  occurred  between 
King  Ferdinand  and  General  Whittingham  during  the 
time,  (nearly  four  years,)  that  the  latter  resided  in  Madrid, 
would  swell  this  work  far  beyond  its  intended  limits,  and 
being  of  a  diplomatic  and  commercial  rather  than  military 
nature,  forms  no  necessary  part  of  a  military  memoir. 
But  it  will  be  requisite  to  establish  hereafter  on  incontro- 
vertible testimony  the  fact,  that  even  in  matters  of  diplo- 
macy, in  which  he  had  no  official  business,  he  did  good 
and  recognized  though  unrewarded  service  to  his  own 
country. 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  Madrid,  Qth  Decemher,  1815. 

'  Mr.  Barthelemy  Frere,  brother  to  John  Hookham 
Frere,  went  to  Constantinople,  as  Secretary  of  Embassy  to 
Mr.  Liston.     Mr.  Listen  is  now  at  home,  and  B.  Frere 

*  He  means  to  the  British  Embassy. 

t  This  was  the  ^Minister,  Mr.  Charles  Vaughan,  acting  as  such  in  the 
absence  of  the  Ambassador. 


264  MEMOm   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

will  of  course  have  remained  tliere  as  Minister  Plenipo- 
tentiary, in  the  same  manner  as  Vaughan  has  remained 
here,  as  Minister  Plenipotentiary  in  consequence  of  the 
absence  of  Sir  Henry  [Wellesley].  Mr.  B.  Frere  is  going 
to  be  married  immediately.'* 

The  year  1816  was  a  gloomy  one  in  Madrid  ;  the 
King  from  his  despotic  and  Eussian  proclivities  becoming 
odious  to  all  men  of  liberal  opinions  in  Spain,  and  the 
recovery  of  the  Spanish  American  colonies  being  already 
nearly  hopeless.  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  was  now 
thankful  that  he  held  no  responsible  post  in  Spain,  and 
in  spite  of  his  low  rank  in  the  English  army  desired,  more 
and  more,  employment  under  the  English  Government ; 
turning  his  thoughts  meantime  to  a  residence  in  the  south 
of  France.  For  he  writes  to  Mr.  Davis,  (in  January  1816) 
alluding  to  his  poverty,f  '  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  live 
in  England.' 

To  the  Same. 

'  Madrid,  6fh  March,  1816. 

'  The  state  of  things  does  not  mend,  though  a  momentary 
tranquillity  reigns.  An  attempt  has  been  made  to  as- 
sassinate the  King.'  [After  a  long  description  of  the 
wretched  state  of  Spain,  financial,  military  and  pohtical, 
he  adds  :] —  'I  have  been  appointed  to  form  the  chapter 
of  the  military  order  of  San  Fernando,  with  the  Duke  del 
Parque,  Palafox,  Zayas,  Blake,  Giron,  O'Donnel,  Venegas, 
and  La  Pena. 

'  MagdalenaJ  has  had  the  offer  of  being  appointed  one 
of  the  ladies  of  honour  to  the  Queen.  But  this  I  have 
declined  on  account  of  the  expense  of  diamonds  necessary, 

*  To  Donna  Barbara  Creus,  sister-in-law  to  the  General. 

t  It  is  not  superflaous  to  record  sucli  a  fact  in  this  Memoir,  when  it  is 
borne  in  mind  that  others  similarly  situated  had  undoubtedly  enriched  them- 
selves, and  that  he  had  been  calumniated.  Many  people  are  slow  to  believe 
that  when  a  man  can,  he  7vill  not  enrich  himself. 

t  Lady  Whittingham. 


HIS    DIPLOMATIC   CONDUCT.  265 

and  which  amounts  to  about  4,000  dollars.  In  short 
honours  and  distinctions  are  crowded  upon  me,  but 
honours  and  distinctions  will  not  pay  bills,  and  the  higher 
a  man  rises  in  society  the  more  he  stands  in  need  of  an 
increase  of  pecuniary  means.  This  has  induced  me  to 
turn  my  thoughts  to  a  high  command  in  America ;  and 
the  more  particularly  as  the  delay  in  the  English  brevets 
gives  me  no  chance  of  getting  out  to  India  as  a  Major- 
General,  till  old  age  will  have  rendered  the  voyage  un- 
advisable.' 

On  the  7th  April,  1816,  he  defends  himself  to  the  same 
correspondent  from  a  charge  that  had  reached  Lord 
Castlereagh  of  his  meddling  with  the  general  politics  of 
Europe ;  a  charge  that  appears  to  have  resulted  solely 
from  his  private  letters  not  having  always  been  sufficiently 
kept  secret  by  his  correspondents.  On  all  these  matters  it 
is  useless  to  dilate,  for  Marquis  Wellesley,  Mr.  Hookham 
Frere,  Sir  Henry  Wellesley,  and  Mr.  Charles  Vaughan, 
were  the  four  ambassadors  or  ministers  from  1808  to 
1819,  and  on  their  final  judgments  of  him  may  safely 
rest  the  verdict  regarding  Sir  Samford  Whittingham's 
diplomatic  conduct.  His  exceptional  position  in  Spain 
had  made  the  successive  representatives  of  Majesty  thank- 
fully use  his  services  when  occasion  offered,  especially 
latterly,  in  his  conversations  with  the  King.  But  the 
only  political  memorandum  (besides  a  letter  on  the  Slave 
Tra'de)  that  he  ever  gave  the  King  was  at  the  desire  of 
the  latter,  and  given  with  the  private  consent  of  the 
Minister,  Mr.  Vaughan ;  and  was  only  calculated  to  make 
Spain  prefer  the  alliance  of  England  to  that  of  Eussia, 
which  would  have  redounded  to  the  eventual  benefit  both 
of  England  and  of  Spain.  In  the  same  letter  he  further 
requests  Mr.  Davis  to  make  Lord  Castlereagh  acquainted 
with  the  following  circumstances  regarding  King  Fer- 
dinand's return  to  Spain  : — 


266  MEMOIR    OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  It  was  the  conviction  of  my  mind,  and  of  General 
Zayas,  and  of  all  those  I  intimately  knew,  during  the 
march  from  Saragossa  to  Valencia,  that  the  King  meant 
to  swear  to  the  Constitution  under  such  modifications  as 
might  appear  necessary ;  and  His  Majesty's  proclamation 
from  Valencia  is  a  convincing  proof  that  we  had  a  right 
to  form  that  opinion. 

'  I  did  not  accompany  the  King  on  his  march  to  Madrid. 
He  was  escorted  by  General  Elio  and  his  infantry,  by  the 
high  road  from  Valencia  to  Madrid.  My  orders  were  to 
march  from  Saragossa  to  Guadalaxara ;  and  there  wait 
for  further  orders.' 

The  letter  then  describes  the  King's  triumphant  entry 
into  Madrid,  which  has  been  already  described  in  this 
work ;  *  and  continues  :  '  Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Madrid, 
His  Majesty  sent  me  a  message  through  the  Duke  of  San 
Carlos,f  desiring  I  would  ask  for  any  favour  I  might 
desire.  I  begged  the  Duke  to  assure  His  Majesty  tliat  I 
considered  myself  amply  rewarded  for  my  services  during 
the  war,  by  the  rank  of  Major-General  that  had  been 
conferred  on  me  after  the  battle  of  Talavera,  and  I  did 
not  desire  any  other  recompense.  Had  I  done  otherwise, 
my  conduct  in  obeying  the  order  to  advance  with  the 
cavalry  from  Saragossa  to  Guadalaxara  might  have  been 
interpreted  into  a  vile  speculation  for  my  own  personal 
advantage,  rather  than  as  proceeding  from  that  high  sense 
of  duty  and  obedience  to  superiors  which  should  form 
the  basis  of  every  military  character. 

'The  only  favour  I  ever  asked  of  the  King  was  the 
pardon  of  two  artillery  soldiers  of  my  division  who  were 
under  sentence  of  death  for  desertion,  not  to  the  enemy, 
but  to  their  home  !     This  was  granted. 

'  The  cross  of  San  Fernando  was  gained  by  me  in  the 

*  See  page  245. 

t  By  the  fuller  detailed  letter  at  page  283,  it  would  appear  that  it  was 
the  Duke's  son,  the  Count  de  Corres,  who  actually  delivered  this  message. 


DECLINES   ALL   REWARDS.  267 

field  of  battle,  according  to  the  established  rules  of  the 
order  ;  *  and  my  claim  legitimated  by  a  pubUc  examin- 
ation in  the  face  of  all  the  troops  concerned.  It  was 
therefore  no  favour  of  the  King. 

'  The  rank  of  Lieutenant-General  was  conferred  upon 
me  by  the  King  without  any  application  on  my  part,  for 
my  general  services  during  the  war.  But  the  same  rank 
was  also  conferred  by  His  Majesty  upon  upwards  of  thirty 
Major-Generals,  all  under  me  in  the  list. 

'  I  was  finally  offered  one  of  the  best  governments  in 
Spain,  which  I  declined  from  the  motives  before  alleged, 
for  1  have  always  been  of  opinion  that  it  is  not  sufficient 
to  be  satisfied  entirely  with  the  motives  of  our  conduct. 
It  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  no  possibility  of  doubt 
as  to  the  purity  of  the  motives  by  ivhich  we  are  actuated.' f 

Thus  did  his  rash  English  calumniators  not  only  deprive 
him  of  the  legitimate  rewards  of  his  services  after  the 
Peninsular  war,  but  also  force  him  into  a  spirit  of  self 
assertion  foreign  to  the  natural  modesty  of  his  nature, 
which  led  him  to  trust  to  his  superiors  for  the  record  of 
his  merits  and  services.  Nor  was  it  a  vain  trust.  For 
rarely  has  an  officer,  not  sprung  from  the  aristocracy, 
enjoyed  such  numerous  and  striking  acknowledgments 
of  his  merits  and  services,  as  fell  to  the  lot  of  General 
Whittingham  before  the  close  of  his  career. 

Meantime  he  no  longer  even  desired  a  military  com- 
mand in  Spain,  because  no  person  was  paid  in  Spain  his 
nominal  salary,  so  that  the  only  effect  of  such  appoint- 
ment would  be  to  increase  his  already  too  great  expenses. 
On  tlie  7th  October,  1816,  he  writes :  '  In  my  situation, 
with  the  high  rank  I  hold  in  this  country,  it  is  morally 
impossible  for  me  to  reduce  my  expenses  more  than  I 


*  By  the  votes  of  officers  and  men  under  hivS  command. 

t  Such  sentiments  do  not  facilitate  the  attainment  of  wealth  and  success, 
but  they  are  the  characteristics  of  a  nobility  of  nature  which  forms  the 
truest  aristocracy. 


268  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

have  done.  Once  only  in  the  year  and  a  half  I  have  been 
here^  have  I  asked  a  friend  to  dine  with  me' 

Only  those  who  have  known  Sir  Samford  Whittingham's 
habits  of  profuse  though  refined  hospitahty,  can  feel  the 
true  force  of  these  words. 

The  letter  thus  continues  :  '  Thus  you  see,  my  dear 
Davis,  that  I  am  exposed  to  starvation  in  the  midst  of 
honours  and  distinctions,  and  I  see  no  road  to  salvation 
except  through  the  East  Indies.  Barbara  [Creus]  is  now 
with  us,  and  I  am  only  waiting  for  the  pope's  licence 
to  celebrate  her  marriage  [by  proxy]  with  Mr.  B.  Frere, 
British  Minister  at  Constantinople.  I  have  Mr.  Frere's 
full  powers  to  effect  the  marriage.' 

In  November  1816,  an  unfounded  report  of  the  pro- 
bable retirement  of  the  Governor  of  Trinidad,  induced 
General  Whittingham  to  apply  through  H.  M.'s  minister, 
Mr.  Yaughan,  for  the  supposed  vacancy.  There  seemed 
no  disinclination  on  the  part  of  the  British  Government 
to  serve  him,  had  the  opportunity  really  occurred,  if  the 
Editor  can  judge  by  the  brief  notes  written  by  Lords 
Liverpool,  Castlereagh,  and  Bathurst,  now  in  his  posses- 
sion. The  letter,  however,  of  Mr.  Vaughan  alone  is  here 
recorded,  placing  in  italics  the  parts  relating  to  the 
General's  (not  then  sufficiently  appreciated  in  England) 
diplomatic  services : — 

The  Right  Hon.  Charles  Vaughan  to  Viscount 
Castlereagh. 

'  Madrid,  23rc?  November^  1816. 

'  My  Lord, — I  have  received  the  enclosed  from  Lieut.- 
General  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  and  grateful  for  the 
services  I  have  ever  found  him  anxious  to  render  me^  as 
His  Majesty's  Minister  at  this  Courts  I  think  it  my  duty 
to  recommend  his  present  application,  to  be  employed  in 
the  island  of  Trinidad,  to  the  most  favourable  attention 
of  your  Lordship. 


APPLIES   FOR   GOVERNORSHIP   OF   TRINIDAD.  269 

'  In  support  of  General  Whittingham's  application,  I 
can  venture  to  testify  to  his  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
language,  the  customs,  and  the  laws  of  Spain ;  and  his 
conduct  in  this  country  has  obtained  for  him  the  confi- 
dence of  His  Catholic  Majesty,  and  the  respect  and  esteem 
of  all  classes  of  Spaniards. 

'  I  have  no  occasion  to  refer  to  the  distinguished  mili- 
tary services  of  the  General,  as  they  have  long  since  been 
acknowledged  by  His  Majesty's  Government.  But  I  feel 
it  my  duty  to  recommend  him  to  your  Lordship,  in  ac- 
knowledgment for  the  services  which  he  has  rendered  to  me 
as  His  Majesty's  Minister^  through  the  confidential  inter- 
course he  enjoyed  with  the  King  of  Spain,  and  which  has 
enabled  me  to  coinmunicate  to  this  Court  opinions  by  which 
I  have  thought  it  of  consequence  that  the  Spanish  Govern- 
ment should  be  influenced* 

'  On  these  grounds  I  trust  that  your  Lordship  will  par- 
don the  liberty  I  have  taken,  in  recommending  General 
Whittingham  for  the  employment  he  solicits. 
'  I  am,  &c.,  &c., 

'  Charles  Vaughan.' 

On  the  14th  January,  1817,  Sir  Samford  writes : 
'  Nothing  can  exceed  the  King's  attention  to  me,  nor  the 
confidence  he  shows  me.  But  as  I  have  before  said,  I 
am  fiilly  of  opinion  that  in  order  to  ask  for  any  high 
employment  here,  I  must  leave  the  service  of  my  own 
country — a  step  I  can  never  make  up  my  mind  to  take. 
So  that  I  am  exactly  in  the  situation  of  the  man  who 
seated  himself  between  two  stools,  and  thus  came  to  the 
ground.' 

In  the  same  letter  Sir  Samford  writes :  '  I  have  lately 

*  On  the  12th  Dec"".  1816  Mr.  Davis  writes,  from  London,  to  Mrs.  Har- 
ford :  '  Your  uncle  has  "been  the  happy  instrument  of  settling  the  question 
of  the  Slave  Trade.  This  is  a  secret,  and  I  learnt  it  by  accident,  not  from 
himself.  Mr.  Vaughan  states  that  it  is  wholly  owing  to  your  imcle's  per- 
sonal influence  with  the  King.' — Mr.  Davis  gives  the  details  and  adds : 
^  These  terms  are  beyond  the  expectation  of  our  Ministers  here.' 


270  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

had  it  in  my  power  to  be  of  some  service  to  Sir  Henry 
Wellesley,  and  he  seems  disposed  to  do  anything  in  his 
power  to  serve  me/  He  adds  his  intention,  if  he  fails  to 
obtain  employment  from  the  British  Government,  to  retire 
to  '  some  small  town  in  France,  where  I  shall  always  be 
able  to  live  perfectly  well  on  my  small  income.  I  think, 
however,  it  is  best  giving  things  a  fair  chance  to  wait  at 
this  Court  eight  or  ten  months  longer,  particularly  as  I 
am  in  hopes  that  Sir  Henry  will  not  find  my  services 
altogether  useless.' 

On  the  3rd  February,  1817,  was  born  his  third  surviving 
son,  to  whom  Don  Antonio  the  King's  uncle  stood  god- 
father. Sir  Samford's  influence  was  not  only  great  with 
the  King  and  the  Eoyal  Family,  but  extended  to  many 
of  the  first  Spanish  nobility,  such  as  the  Dukes  of  Frias, 
Infantado,  Osuna,  &c.  With  some  of  these  he  arranged 
wool-importing  business  for  his  brother's  mercantile  house 
in  Bristol.  Thus  he  writes  on  the  27th  February,  1817 : 
'  I  am  also  endeavouring  to  persuade  the  Duke  of  Infan- 
tado, to  send  you  his  pile  [of  wool]  for  the  future.  He 
does  not  seem  very  well  satisfied  with  his  correspondents 
in  Bristol,  but  unfortunately  he  has  taken  it  into  his  head 
that  by  sending  [his  wool]  for  some  time  to  London  he 
shall  obtain  better  prices.' 

'It  has  appeared  to  me  that  you  would  not  disapprove 

of  my  introducing into  the  best  society  of  this  town, 

inasmuch  as  that  by  no  means  militates  against  his  atten- 
tion to  business.  I  have  therefore  taken  him  to  the 
Eussian  Minister's,  to  the  Duchess  of  Osuna,  to  the  Duchess 
of  Frias  ;  and  on  Sunday  next  I  shall  take  him  to  Pizarro's, 
the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs.  To  Sir  Henry's  Satur- 
day evening  parties  he  also  goes  with  me.' 

In  a  letter  dated   'Madrid,    18th   March,    1817,'  he 

writes : —  ' begins  his  riding  lessons  this  evening. 

The  Duke  of  Alagon,  commander  of  the  King's  Body- 
Guard,  has  ordered  the  director  of  his  manege  to  pay 


MAREIAGE  OF  MR.  B.  FRERE  BY  PROXY.      271 

him  every  attention,  and  to  employ  every  means  in  his 

power  to  make  him  a  complete  horseman. *  goes 

on  in  every  respect  most  charmingly.  Miss  Creus  was 
married  some  days  ago,  by  proxy,  to  Mr.  Barthelemy 
Frere.' 

Sir  Samford  now  (no  Colonial  government  being  forth- 
coming) resolved  again  to  ask  the  Duke  of  York  for 
employment,  in  spite  of  the  difficulties  about  his  want  of 
rank ;  and  having  conversed  with  Sir  Henry  Wellesley 
(who  had  returned  to  his  post)  on  the  subject,  he  was 
enabled  to  transmit  to  the  Duke  of  York,  through  his 
brother-in-law,  the  following  satisfactory  letter: — 

Sir  Henry  Wellesley  to  the  Duke  of  York. 

'  Madkid,  ^rd  April,  1817. 

'  Sir, — Understanding  it  to  be  the  wish  of  Sir  Samford 
Whittingham  to  obtain  active  employment  in  His  Majesty's 
service,  and  your  Eoyal  Highness  having  been  pleased  in 
a  letter  to  me,  under  date  the  14th  June,  1815,  to  express 
your  approbation  of  his  general  conduct,  I  venture  to  take 
the  liberty  of  recommending  him  to  the  notice  of  your 
Eoyal  Highness,  as  an  officer  who  was  not  only  eminently 
distinguished  during  the  war  in  Spain,  but  to  whom  / 
feel  under  great  obligations  for  the  assistance  which^  since 
his  return  to  Madrid^  he  has  afforded  to  this  Embassy  in 
its  intricate  negociations  with  the  Spanish  Government. 

'  I  have,  &c.,  &c., 

'  Henry  Wellesley.' 

The  Duke  of  York  to  R  H.  Davis,  Esq.  M.P. 

HoKSE-GuARDS,  28M  April,  1817. 

'  Sir, — I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  letter 
of  the  26th  instant,  with  its  enclosure,  and  to  assure  you 

*  When  Mr. ,  at  the  termination  of  his  lessons  sought  to  pay  for 

them,  he  was  informed  that  all  had  been  done  gratis,  for  the  love  of  his 
imcle,  General  Whittingham. 


272  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

that  I  have  had  great  pleasure  in  receiving  from  Sir 
Henry  Wellesley,  so  favourable  a  testimony  of  Sir  Sam- 
ford  Whittingham's  zeal,  ability,  and  assiduous  attention 
to  every  duty  assigned  to  him,  though  nothing  was  want- 
ing to  add  to  the  opinion  I  had  previously  entertained  of 
that  officer's  distinguished  conduct. 

'  I  have,  &c.,  &c., 

'Frederick.' 

But  nothing  came  of  the  application  at  this  time.  On 
both  sides  of  the  water  plenty  of  praise  from  high  quar- 
ters, hut  no  rewards.  Praise  is  good,  but  it  cannot  feed 
a  family,  and  has  a  satirical  aspect  when  attended  with  no 
practical  result.  It  is  however,  certain  that '  the  Soldiers 
Friend'  was  hampered  by  the  difficulty  of  finding  a 
Colonel's  post  suitable  to  such  a  deserving  officer,  and  he 
might  also  naturally  think  that  the  nature  of  his  latter 
services  might  give  him  a  claim  for  civil  employment 
pending  his  want  of  British  military  rank. 

Troubles  began  now  to  arise  in  Spain.  There  was  also 
a  danger  of  General  Whittingham  being  ordered  to  South 
America,  to  reconquer  the  revolted  colonies,  which  com- 
mand he  must  have  declined  to  accept,  as  incompatible 
with  the  then  policy  of  England.  He  therefore  prepared 
to  quit  Spain  ;  but  signs  of  a  civil  war  then  began  to 
appear,  and  his  high  feeling  of  honour,  and  regard  for 
the  King,  made  him  inclined  to  remain  in  order  to  pro- 
tect His  Majesty.  Sir  Henry  Wellesley,  however,  recom- 
mended his  withdrawal,  at  least  for  a  few  months,  and  he 
obeyed. 

On  the  24th  May,  whilst  staying  with  his  family  at 
Aranjuez  on  a  visit  to  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Frias  at 
their  beautiful  family  seat,  he  requests  his  brother-in-law 
to  consult  Lord  Castle reagh's  wishes,  as  to  his  leaving  or 
remaining  in  Madrid,  in  one  of  the  sentences  of  which  his 
chivalrous  nature  asserts  itself,  scorning  to  escape  a  dis- 


DECLINE   OF   ENGLISH    INFLUENCE.  273 

agreeable  duty,  by  the  excuse  of  ingratitude  in  the  highest 
quarter.  Speaking  of  the  danger  of  taking  high  command 
in  civil  war  he  writes  :  '  Personally  this  does  not  occupy 
me  one  moment.  I  only  wish  it  to  be  clearly  understood, 
that  I  cannot  wear  the  King  of  Spain's  uniform^  and  aban- 
don him  in  case  of  need'  * 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

Private.  '  Madrid,  8th  June,  1817. 

'  Since  the  return  of  the  King,  the  English  interest  at 
this  Court  has  been  gradually  declining,  and  strange  to 
say,  the  Eussian  influence  as  gradually  increasing.  This 
has  depended  principally  upon  the  personal  character  of 
the  King,  but  has  been  considerably  forwarded  by  the 
intriguing  abilities  of  the  Eussian  Minister  TatischefF.  The 
King  from  his  infancy  has  been  taught  to  suspect  and 
dislike  the  Enghsh,  and  these  feehngs  have  been  not  a 
little  fomented  by  the  repeated  obstacles  thrown  before 
him  and  his  Government  by  the  British  papers,  and  in 
the  British  Parliament.  The  Emperor  [of  Eussia]  on  the 
contrary  has  been  constantly  occupied  in  flattering  his 
vanity,  and  gaining  his  good  will  by  numberless  presents 
both  to  him  and  to  the  Queen.  At  the  present  moment, 
Tatischeff"  reigns  despotically  at  this  Court,  and  his  influ- 
*ence  appears  to  be  almost  irresistible.  Some  time  since, 
Tatischeff*  began  a  treaty  with  his  Government,  by  which 
Eussia  was  to  interpose  all  her  power  in  favour  of  Spain 
against  Portugal,  and  Spain  was  to  cede  to  Eussia,  in  con- 
sequence, the  island  of  Minorca.  This  treaty  was  not  at 
that  time  approved  of  by  the  Emperor,  and  the  whole  fell 
to  the  ground.  However,  the  subject  has  again  been 
taken  in  hand,  and  the  intrigues  to  gain  possession  of 
Minorca,  have  again  been  renewed.' 

*  He  could  not  say  '  draw  the  King's  pay/  because  he  drew  none. 

T 


274  MEMOIR   OF   Sm   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

The  above  is  a  brief  fragment  of  a  long  letter  : — It 
proves  that  the  Emperor  Alexander,  was  less  of  an  in- 
triguer than  his  Minister,  and  more  upright  in  his  inten- 
tions. At  least,  this  is  the  impression  it  now  leaves  on  the 
mind  of  the  Editor.* 

In  the  summer  of  1817,  sickness  seized  the  General 
and  all  his  family,  and  finally  '  Mrs.  B.  Frere  was  taken  ill 
of  a  nervous  fever  early  in  July.  Water  was  thrown  out 
upon  the  brain,  and  in  the  short  period  of  four  days,  she 
was  no  more.  Three  months  previous  to  this  dreadful 
calamity,  she  was  married  by  proxy  in  the  very  room 
in  which  she  died.  Sorrow  and  grief  have  borne  us  to 
the  ground.' 

The  above  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  to  Mr.  Davis, 
dated  'Madrid,  12th  July,  1817,'  and  containing  the  sad 
end  of  the  virgin  wife  of  one  of  the  best  and  most  amiable 
of  men,  who  is  said  to  have  received  at  Constantinople, 
the  news  of  her  death  by  the  very  ship  in  which  he  ex- 
pected her  to  arrive.  To  complete  the  sad  romance,  the 
widower  remained  single  for  the  remainder  of  his,  by  no 
means,  short  life. 

The  same  letter  says :  '  I  have  seen  Sir  Henry,  and  he 
is  of  opinion  that  I  should  do  well  to  absent  myself,  for 
some  time  at  least,  from  Spain.  I  have  therefore  deter- 
mined to  go  to  Toulouse,  and  there  wait  events.  I  hope 
to  be  able  to  set  off  in  the  course  of  next  month.' 

The  General  and  his  family  left  Madrid  in  August. 
Here  his  public  life  ceased  for  the  time,  so  that  it  is  not 
necessary  (with  a  few  exceptions)  to  quote  his  letters  for 
the  remainder  of  1817,  or  the  whole  of  1818.  He  first 
went  to  Toulouse.  In  September  he  was  at  Bagnieres 
de  Bigorre.  In  November  again  at  Toulouse,  where  he 
remained  till,  at  all  events,  the  third  week  in  February 
1818.     For  on  the  17th  of  that  month,  he  wrote  to  Mr. 

*  It  proves  also  ttat  Russian  intrigue  is  an  institution  too  fixed  to  be 
mucli  shaken  by  any  moderation  or  weakness  in  the  ruler  of  the  day. 


VISITS   BAGNIEKES   DE   BIGORRE. 


275 


Davis  : — '  I  received  some  time  back,  a  letter  from  [Count] 
Montenegro,  whose  situation  at  Court  you  must  recollect, 
enclosing  the  King's  manifesto  on  the  abolition  of  the 
Slave  Trade.  I  copy  the  words  of  the  letter,  because  I 
am  forced  to  speak  of  myself*  and  because  I  know  you 
will  be  pleased  to  see  the  effects  of  my  influence  so 
decidedly  acknowledged.  Dirijo  a  Vm.  el  Real  Decreto 
aholiendo  el  comercio  de  negros,  creyendo  dark  con  esto 
una  saiisfaccion  por  lo  mucho  que  ha  contribuido  al  logro 
de  un  negocio  tan  importante.f    Sir  Samford  continues  : — 

'  I  had  upon  the  subject  of  the  Slave  Trade,  repeated 
and  long  conversations  with  the  King.  At  his  desire,  I 
gave  him  a  memorial  upon  the  subject,  which  merited  his 
acknowledged  approbation,  and  which  he  gave  to  his 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  desiring  him  to  read  it  with 
the  greatest  attention.  I  read  the  memorial  to  the  King 
myself.' 

In  the  summer  of  1818,  General  Whittingham  and  his 
family,  to  avoid  the  great  heat,  again  visited  Bagnieres 
de  Bigorre  in  the  Hautes  Pyrenees.  Commencing  with 
the  4th  July,  he  received  a  three  months'  visit  from  his 
eldest  nephew,  Hart  Davis,  junior,  who  had  been  com- 
pelled by  delicate  health  to  abandon  a  very  promising 
parliamentary  career,  and  who  had  lately  married  the 
truly  beautiful  and  accomplished  daughter  of  Major- 
General  and  Lady  Eleanor  Dundas.  Mr.  Hart  Davis  had 
a  genius  for  sketching,  especially  figures,  and  many 
romantic  sketches  of  Pyrenees'  scenes  and  peasantry  were 
collected  on  this  occasion  in  his  scrap-book. 

In  a  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Barthelemy  Frere,  and 
dated,  '  Chez  Monsieur  Jalon,  Cabinet  litteraii^e^  Bagnieres 
de  Bigorre^  6th  August,  1818,'  Sir  Samford  writes :  'Hart 

*  In  consequence  of  the  calumnies  to  whicli  he  had  been  exposed. 

t  '  I  enclose  you  the  Royal  Decree  abolishing  the  traffic  in  negroes  be- 
lieving that  I  shall  thereby  do  you  a  pleasure,  on  account  of  your  having 
greatly  contribrded  to  the  settlement  of  so  important  a  business.' 


276  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

Davis  and  I  are  just  returned  from  a  chasse  de  chamois, 
amongst  the  highest  and  most  inaccessible  chfFs  of  the 
Pyrenees.  We  were  out  four  days.  The  fatigue  was  ex- 
cessive, but  Davis  bore  it  very  well.  We  expect  Ei chard 
[Yaughan]  Davis  on  his  return  from  Spain.  Could  you 
not  make  an  effort  to  join  us  ?'  It  does  not  appear,  how- 
ever, that  his  old  friend  and  brother-in-law,  Mr.  B.  Frere, 
joined  him  on  that  occasion.  After  the  departure  of  his 
guests,  the  General  returned  to  Toulouse. 

Early  in  1819,  the  sudden  and  unexpected  law  for  the 
enforcement  of  cash  payments  caused  the  failure  of  many 
mercantile  houses,  and  the  ruin  of  many  families.  Mr. 
Hart  Davis  was  a  great  loser  on  this  occasion,  and  in  the 
crash  Sir  Samford  also  lost,  it  appears,  all  his  capital. 
With  an  increasing  family  it  became  more  imperative  for 
him  to  obtain  active  employment  of  some  kind  or  other. 
But  a  portion  of  1819  was  passed  between  Toulouse  and 
the  Pyrenees  and  Bordeaux,  in  enforced  inactivity.  At 
last  in  July  1819  he  received  the  offer  of  the  Lieutenant- 
Government  of  Dominica,  an  unimportant  post,  not 
very  remunerative,  and  subordinate,  to  the  Governor-in- 
Chief  at  Barbadoes.  It  was,  however,  more  lucrative 
then  than  at  the  present  period,  and  he  accepted  it,  with- 
out ceasing  to  hope  for  more  profitable  employment  in 
the  East  Indies.  But  though  he  received  the  appoint- 
ment in  July,  in  anticipation,  he  was  not  ordered  out  im- 
mediately. Probably  the  time  of  the  preceding  Governor 
wanted  six  months  before  expiring.  Meanwhile  he 
thought  it  his  duty  before  embarking  for  Dominica  to 
take  leave  of  the  King  of  Spain : — 


To  his  Brother-in-law, 

'  Madrid,  l^th  July,  1819. 

'I  am  this  moment  returned  from  the  baths  of  Sacedon 
where  I  was  obliged  to  follow  His  Majesty.    He  received 


AN   ATTENTIVE    ROYAL   HOST.  277 

me  with  the  greatest  kindness,  approved  highly  of  my 
acceptance  of  the  government  of  Dominica,  and  assured 
me  that  he  should  preserve  my  name  in  the  list  of  the 
Generals  of  his  army.  I  dined  with  His  Majesty  during 
the  two  days  of  my  stay  at  the  baths;  and  on  my 
taking  leave  his  behaviour  was  affectionate  in  the  ex- 
treme. 

'  Pray  tell  me  if  you  think  it  would  be  possible  to  ob- 
tain from  the  Duke  of  York,  the  local  rank  of  Brigadier- 
General  for  me  in  Dominica.  I  have  been  now  ten 
years  a  General ;  and  it  is  an  unpleasant  feehng  to 
change  the  name  for  Colonel  if  it  can  be  avoided.*  It 
is  indeed  woeful  to  see  that  the  expense  of  my  commis- 
sion [as  Governor]  will  amount  to  nearly  600/.' 

In  this  letter  to  his  brother-in-law.  Sir  Samford  Whit- 
tingham  gave  only  the  above  very  brief  account  of  his 
farewell  to  King  Ferdinand.  Fortunately  in  the  '  Eecol- 
lections,'  which  have  been  so  often  quoted,  there  is  a 
fuller  account  of  his  last  intercourse  with  that  Prince, 
which  will  now  be  laid  before  the  reader : — 

'In  1819  I  accepted  the  government  of  Dominica,  in 
the  West  Indies.  But  previous  to  my  departure  I 
thought  it  my  duty  to  go  to  Madrid  to  take  leave  of 
the  King  of  Spain.  Troubles  had  again  surrounded  him, 
and  the  army  of  Andalusia  was  in  a  state  of  insurrection. 
His  Majesty  was  at  the  baths  of  Sacedon,  and  desired  my 
immediate  attendance. 

'  The  order  of  the  day  was  as  follows  : — At  daybreak 
His  Majesty  walked  to  the  baths.  At  eleven  he  held  a 
little  Court  of  the  persons  present  at  Sacedon.  At  one, 
all  the  officers  of  a  certain  rank  dined  with  His  Majesty, 
at  a  round  table  calculated  to  hold  sixteen ;  His  Majesty 
doing  the  honours  as  host,  and  paying  the  greatest  atten- 

*  A  natural   regret  for  tlie  man  whom  the  Duke   of  Wellington  had 
addressed  as  a  General  so  many  years  previously. 


278  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

tioii  to  all  Lis  guests.  Soon  after  dinner  a  plate  of  the 
finest  Havannah  cigars  was  presented  to  the  King,  who 
selected  one,  and  sent  it  to  some  one  of  his  guests,  with 
whose  taste  for  smoking  he  was  acquainted.  His  Majesty- 
then  lighted  his  own  cigar  and  soon  after  retired  to  his 
apartment.  The  Duke  of  Alagon,  Captain  of  the  Gardes 
du  Corps^  then  took  His  Majesty's  seat,  and  the  whole 
party  began  to  light  their  cigars.  Excellent  coffee  was 
introduced,  and  we  sat  smoking  and  talking  till  five  p.m., 
when  His  Majesty  commenced  his  evening  walk,  accom- 
panied by  all  his  little  Court. 

'At  the  first  levee  after  my  arrival,  as  soon  as  the 
strangers  were  dismissed,  the  King  said  to  the  Duke  of 
Alagon,  "  Leave  us,  I  desire  to  speak  in  private  with 
Santiago."*  It  is  the  etiquette  of  the  Spanish  Court,  that 
the  Captain  of  the  Gardes  du  Corps  should  never  quit 
the  King's  person  ;  and  great  was  the  surprise  of  the 
Duke  at  so  novel  an  order. 

'  As  soon  as  we  were  alone.  His  Majesty  opened  the 
conversation  in  the  most  flattering  and  confidential  man- 
ner, by  saying  :  "  Santiago,  you  well  know  the  confidence 
with  which  you  have  inspired  me,  and  how  very  highly 
I  esteem  you.  Tell  me,  therefore,  frankly  and  openly, 
your  opinion  upon  the  state  of  Europe  in  general,  and 
upon  the  revolutionary  movements  which  threaten  on  all 
sides ;  and  particularly  tell  me  what  you  think  of  this 
country."  "  Sir,"  I  replied,  "  your  Majesty  well  knows 
my  devoted  attachment  to  your  Eoyal  person,  and  how 
sincerely  I  desire  and  hope  for  the  happiness  and  pros- 
perity of  your  Majesty  and  of  Spain.  I  feel,  therefore, 
no  hesitation  in  answering  your  question  frankly,  fully 
convinced  that  the  purity  of  my  intentions  will  not  be 
doubted.    The  minds  of  your  Majesty's  subjects  are  gene- 

*  ^Dejanos,  deseo  hablar  a  solas  con  Santiago.'  It  was,  and  probably 
still  is,  the  fashion  in  Spain  for  friends  to  address  each  other  by  their  Chris- 
tian names. 


THE   ambassador's   FINAL   TESTIMONY.  279 

rally  unsettled.  Novelty  and  change  are  the  order  of 
the  day :  if  your  Majesty  takes  the  initiative,  and  makes 
a  few  concessions  in  harmony  with  the  times,  I  am  of 
opinion  that  they  will  be  received  gratefully,  and  produce 
the  best  effects.  If,  on  the  contrary,  the  people  should 
take  the  initiative,  nothing  short  of  anarchy  and  destruc- 
tion will  satisfy  them,  and  the  worst  consequences  may 
be  feared." 

'  The  King  applauded  my  opinion,  and  apparently  coin- 
cided with  it ;  but  he  had  not  strength  of  mind  to  act  in 
consequence.  The  next  day  I  took  my  final  leave  and 
never  saw  him  more.' 

The  following  was  the  final  testimony  of  the  English 
Ambassador  under  whom  General  Whittingham  had 
served  so  long  as  a  British  Military  Agent  in  the  war  in 
the  Peninsula  : — 

Sir  Henry  Wellesley*  to  Viscount  Castlereagh. 

^  Madrid,  1st  August,  1819. 

'  My  Lord, — Sir  Samford  Whittingham  having  retired 
from  the  service  of  His  Catholic  Majesty,  I  cannot  suffer 
this  occasion  to  pass  over  of  repeating  the  sense  wliich  I 
entertain  of  his  distinguished  services  during  the  war  in 
the  Peninsula,  as  well  as  of  his  uniform  desire  to  pro- 
mote, by  all  the  means  in  his  power,  the  views  of  the 
British  Government  in  this  country,  which  has  been  mani- 
fested upon  many  important  occasions  since  the  restoration 
of  peace. 

'  I  hope,  therefore,  that  your  Lordship  will  allow  me 
to  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  (probably  the  last  I 
shall  have)  of  recommending  Sir  Samford  Whittingham 
to  the  protection  of  the  Prince  Eegent's  Government. 

*  In  1828  Sir  Henry  was  raised  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Cowley.  His 
son — the  well-known  Ambassador  at  Paris  for  many  years — has  been  raised 
to  an  Earldom. 


280  MEMOIR   OB"   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  He  leaves  this  country  with  the  testimony  of  all  ranks 
in  his  favour,  but  without  any  other  reward  from  this 
Government  for  the  valuable  services  rendered  by  him  to 
the  Spanish  cause,  than  that  of  being  allowed  to  retain  his 
rank  in  the  Spanish  army. 

'  I  have,  &c., 

'  Henry  Wellesley.' 

The  words  placed  by  the  Editor  in  italics  though 
strictly  true,  imply  a  greater  charge  of  ingratitude  against 
the  King  of  Spain,  than  the  facts  really  substantiate.  As 
Sir  Samford  was  not  prepared  to  give  up  the  service  of 
his  own  country,  the  King  knew  that  there  were  marked 
limits  to  the  extent  of  his  devotion  to  His  Majesty,  which, 
with  his  natural  dislike  of  England  and  Englishmen,  was 
calculated  to  check  his  liberality.  Moreover,  the  King 
had  peculiar  notions  in  the  matter  of  rewards.  Some  one 
having  asked  His  Majesty,  why  a  certain  distinguished 
officer  had  never  been  recompensed,  he  simply  replied, 
(as  if  conclusive)  that  'He  never  asked  for  anything!'* 
His  Majesty  could  have  pleaded  the  same  excuse  on  this 
occasion  in  justification  for  neglecting  to  reward  General 
Whittingham,  for  assuredly  the  latter  never  did  ask  for 
any  reward  from  His  Catholic  Majesty.  But  the  fact  is 
that  the  King  had  made  an  exception  in  the  English- 
man's favour;  and,  as  we  have  seenf  had  not  waited  to 
be  asked  in  his  case.  This  will  be  again  proved  by  the 
following  letter,  which  is  here  inserted  out  of  its  place,  in 
order  to  finish  at  once  with  the  Peninsular  portion  of 
this  Memoir : — 

*  The  Editor  frequently  heard  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  narrate  this 
trait  of  Ferdinand  Vll. 
t  At  page  266. 


GENERAL   WHITTINGHAM'S    LETTER   TO    MR.  MURDOCH.      281 


Sir  Samford  Whittingham  to  Thomas  Murdoch^  Esq. 

^  Dominique,  23rc?  September,  1820. 

'  My  dear  Friend, — I  am  glad  you  have  touched  upon 
the  Spanish  question.  I  have  been  so  deeply  involved  in 
that  affair,  and  so  often  and  so  unjustly  attacked,  under 
the  false  supposition  that  I  had  been  the  principal  actor 
in  the  destruction  of  the  liberties  of  the  Spanish  people, 
that  I  feel  particularly  anxious  to  put  you  in  possession 
of  everything  which  occurred  on  the  King's  return  to 
Spain. 

'  His  Majesty  after  leaving  Barcelona  chose  the  route  of 
Aragon.  I  commanded  at  that  time  all  the  cavalry  and 
artillery  in  that  kingdom.  I  met  the  King  on  the  fron- 
tier, and  accompanied  him  by  his  express  order  to  Va- 
lencia. During  the  King's  stay  at  Saragossa  his  mind  was 
certainly  by  no  means  prepared  for  the  plan  of  action  he 
was  subsequently  induced  to  adopt.  For,  speaking  to  me 
of  the  Constitution,  he  said,  "  There  are  many  parts  of 
this  work  I  do  not  approve ;  but  if  any  opposition  on 
my  part  were  hkely  to  cause  the  shedding  of  one  drop  of 
Spanish  blood,  I  would  swear  to  it  immediately." 

'  At  Valencia  I  was  asked  my  opinion  as  to  whether 
the  King  should  swear  to  the  Constitution  or  not.  I  an- 
swered then,  as  I  should  do  now,  for  my  sentiments  have 
not  changed  :  "  The  Constitution,  as  it  now  stands,  is 
too  democratic  to  be  in  unison  and  harmony  with  the 
habits  and  ideas  of  the  Spanish  people,  or  with  the  laws 
and  customs  of  the  Spanish  monarchy.*  It  must  be 
modified  in  many  parts  to  give  well-founded  hopes  of  its 
duration.     Yet  one  article  of  the  Constitution  forbids  the 

*  This  letter,  written  in  1820,  is  of  course  likely  to  be  more  accurate 
than  the  Recollections,  written  entirely  from  memory  in  1840 ;  but  there  is 
no  material  discrepancy  between  the  two  documents.  The  later  accounts 
written  for  his  nieces  were  briefer  than  the  more  business-like  letter  of  ex- 
planation to  Mr.  Murdoch. 


282  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

slightest  alteration  during  the  space  of  eight  years.  The 
King,  therefore,  must  either  deprive  himself  of  the  possi- 
bility of  amelioration,  or  be  guilty  of  wilful  and  pre- 
determined perjury.  It  is  therefore  my  opinion  that  the 
King,  under  existing  circumstances,  cannot  swear  to  the 
Constitution  as  formed  by  the  Cortes.  But  it  is  also  my 
opinion  that  the  members  of  the  Cortes  have  deserved 
well  of  the  King  and  of  the  country ;  that  His  Majesty 
unaccompanied  by  a  single  soldier  should  dissolve  the 
Cortes  in  person ;  should  thank  them  for  the  good  ser- 
vices they  have  rendered  to  the  state,  and  should  express 
the  pleasure  he  anticipated  in  seeing  them  re-elected  by 
their  constituents  as  members  of  the  Cortes  he  was  about 
to  summon." 

'  The  day  following,  I  was  directed  to  return  to  Sara- 
gossa.  Three  days  afterwards  I  received  an  official  order 
from  General  Elio,  in  the  King's  name,  to  march  with 
all  the  cavalry  and  artillery  under  my  command  to 
Guadalaxara,  nine  leagues  from  Madrid.  On  the  road  I 
was  met  by  an  officer  from  the  Eegency,  who  desired  to 
know  by  what  authority  I  entered  Castile.  I  sent  a 
copy  of  the  order  to  the  Eegency ;  and  on  my  arrival  at 
Guadalaxara,  I  received  orders  from  Elio,  in  the  King's 
name,  to  wait  the  pleasure  of  His  Majesty.  On  the  day 
of  the  Bang's  entrance  into  the  capital,  the  cavalry  under 
my  command  marched  iu,  to  line  the  streets.  But  so  far 
were  they  from  being  necessary,  that  the  people  had 
gone  out  three  leagues  to  meet  the  King ;  had  taken  the 
horses  out  of  his  carriage,  and  were  bringing  him  in 
triumph  into  the  city,  when  we  arrived  at  the  gates  of 
Madrid. 

'  As  to  the  arrests  of  the  members  of  the  Cortes,  they 
had  taken  place  the  night  before  by  order  of  Eguia, 
when  not  one  soldier  of  mine  was  within  thirty  miles  of 
the.  capital. 

'  This  is  a  plain  statement  of  facts ;  and  I  confess  I 


RETURN   TO    BAGNIERES   DE    BIQORRE.  283 

am  not  aware  that  I  could  in  anywise  vary  my  conduct 
had  I  again  to  act  in  a  similar  situation. 

'A  few  days  after  His  Majesty  arrived  in  Madrid,  he 
sent  to  me  the  Count  de  Corres,  nephew  to  the  Duke  of 
San  Carlos,*  "  to  desire  me  to  point  out  any  favour  I  wished 
to  have  granted,  as  his  Majesty  was  desirous  of  giving 
me  some  proof  of  his  esteem.'  I  requested  the  Count 
de  Corres  to  state  to  his  Majesty,  "  my  gratitude  for  his 
kindness ;  but  at  the  same  time,  to  assure  His  Majesty 
that  I  felt  amply  rewarded  by  the  military  promotion 
I  had  obtained  during  the  war,  and  that  I  desired 
nothing  further."  One  word  from  me  at  that  time  would 
have  obtained  me  a  title,  and  a  military  encomienda.f 
But  I  felt  that  my  position  was  delicate  ;  and  I  preferred 
without  hesitation,  as  I  trust  in  God  I  always  shall, 
poverty  to  dishonour.  Had  I  accepted  a  reward  from 
Ferdinand,  it  might  have  been  said  that  I  had  been 
bribed ;  and  I  have  always  considered,  that  it  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  be  satisfied  in  your  own  conscience  that  you 
have  acted  rightly ;  it  is  necessary  to  deprive  even  your 
enemies  of  every  plausible  pretext  for  attacking  your  re- 
putation. 

'  Beheve  me,  &c. 

'Samford  Whittingham.' 

From  Madrid,  Sir  Samford  returned  early  in  August, 
1819,  to  Bagnieres  de  Bigorre  ;  whence  he  removed  in 
October  to  Bordeaux. 

In  November,  he  took  his  two  eldest  children  via  Paris 
to  London,  to  his  brother-in-law's,  and  saw  them  soon 
after  estabhshed  at  a  school  in  Hammersmith,  at  which 
were  staying  the  two  sons  of  his  dear  friend  Sir  Henry 
Torrens.  He  passed  less  than  two  months  in  England  on 
this  occasion. 

*  The  Duke  was  then  the  King's  principal  Minister. 

t  Either  the  product  of  a  certain  amount  of  land,  or  a  claim  on  the  rent. 


284  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

Whilst  still  there,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Davis  dated 
14th  December,  1819,  in  which  he  informed  him  that  he 
had  '  had  a  long  conversation  with  Lord  Castlereagh  the 
other  day '  on  the  subject  of  his  (Mr.  Davis)  losses,  by 
the  great  commercial  crisis  of  that  period.  The  Minister 
assured  Sir  Samford  that  notwithstanding  these  losses  his 
brother-in-law  '  never  stood  so  high  in  the  opinion  of 
Government.'  His  Lordship  added  : — '  He  has  borne  his 
unmerited  misfortunes  with  a  strength  of  mind  which 
does  him  infinite  honour ;  and  the  value  of  his  character 
was  never  so  well  known  as  since  his  late  trial.  His  Eoyal 
Highness  the  Eegent  said  the  other  day,  "  There  is  not  a 
man  in  the  House  of  Commons,  without  one  single  ex- 
ception, for  whom  I  have  a  higher  esteem  than  for  Hart 
Davis." '  * 

It  may  be  easily  imagined  what  pleasure  it  gave  Sir 
Samford  Whittingham  to  communicate  Lord  Castlereagh's 
observations  to  his  oldest  and  best  friend  and  connection, 
in  whose  losses  his  own  fortune  had  likewise  disappeared. 
He  had  now  to  take  leave  of  Mr.  Davis  and  his  old 
friends,  to  proceed  to  the  West  Indies. 

Before  sailing,  the  account  of  which  will  be  given  in  the 
following  chapter.  Sir  Samford  received  a  farewell  letter 
from  his  old  friend  Baron  Hugel,  which  contained  the  fol- 
lowing not  very  encouraging  passage : 

'  Com/ment,  mon  ami,  vous  allez  done  vous  ensevelir 
dans  un  pays  sans  souvenirs  et  sans  esperances  ?  Un 
pays  de  sucre,  de  cafe  et  d'esclaves  ?  Un  pays  oic  tout  le 
m.onde  vegete  dans  le  vice  et  dans  Vignorance  ?  Que  le  bon 
Dieu  vous  benisse,  et  vous  tienne  dans  sa  sainte  garde  ! '  f 

*  Lest  the  reader  should  suppose  this  to  be  a  mere  party  opinion,  it  may- 
be well  here  to  state  that  the  liberal  Lord  William  Bentinck,  in  one  of  his 
letters  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  written  in  1831,  states,  '  I  have  always 
had  a  great  respect  for  Mr.  Hart  Davis.' 

t  '  What,  my  friend,  you  are  going  to  bury  yourself  in  a  country  without 
recollections,  and  without  hopes  ?  A  land  of  sugar,  of  coffee,  and  of  slaves  P 
A  land  in  wliich  all  the  world  vegetates  in  vice  and  ignorance  ?  May  God 
bless  you,  and  shield  you  with  his  holy  protection ! ' 


ARRIVAL   AT   DOMINICA.  285 


CHAPTER  Xni. 

1820—1822. 

GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM's  ARRIVAL  IN"  DOMINICA — RESTORES  ORDER 
AND  CONCORD — ANXIOUS  TO  OBTAIN  EMPLOYMENT  IN  INDIA — HIS  SYS- 
TEM OF  GOVERNMENT— FAVOURS  THE  SLAVE  POPULATION — TESTIMO- 
NIALS BOTH  FROM  THE  ISLANDERS  AND  THE  PROPRIETORS  RESIDENT 
IN  ENGLAND — BOON  TO  THE  WHITE  SOLDIERS  BY  SIR  SAMFORD's  RE- 
COMMENDATION— WILBERFORCE's   letter   to   the  bishop   of  CALCUTTA 

— his  autograph  letter  to  sir  samford — george  iv.  and  the 
due:e  of  York's  letters  of  introduction — sir  henry  torrens's 
prophetical  letter — a  most  delightful  personage — a  popular 

MARQUIS — UNCLE  TOBY  AND  CORPORAL  TRIM — A  GOVERNOR- GENERAL's 
SMILES  AND  FROWNS— VISIT  TO  LORD  HASTINGS  AT  BARRACKPORE — HIS 
lordship's  flattering  CONFIDENCE— how  LORD  HASTINGS  SILENCED 
AVA's  king — ARRIVAL  OF  SIR  EDWARD  PAGET,  THE  NEW  COMMANDER- 
IN-CHIEF — LORD  Hastings's  great  error. 

On  tlie  evening  of  the  1st  January,  1820,  Sir  Samford 
Whittingliam  arrived  at  Dover,  'after  spending  a  delight- 
ful day  at  Maidstone  mth  Sir  John  Brown.'  *  On  the 
3rd  he  recrossed  the  Straits,  and  returned  to  Bordeaux 
via  Paris,  as  he  had  come.  Sickness  in  his  family  de- 
tained Mm  many  weeks ;  f  so  that  the  embarkation  did 
not  take  place  till  near  the  end  of  February ;  and  Domi- 
nica was  reached  on  the  28th  of  March. 

By  May,  he  was  obliged  to  send  home  one  of  his  chil- 
dren from  sickness,  and  the  remainder  of  his  family  were 
laid  up  with  fever.  But  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  speedily 
restoring  order  and  concord  in  Dominica,  which  had  been 
in  a  discontented  state  before  his  arrival. 

*  Letter  to  his  brother-in-law. 

t  During  this  detention,  the  sad  news  must  have  reached  him  of  the  pre- 
mature death  of  his  earliest  illustrious  patron,  the  good  and  kind-hearted 
Duke  of  Kent,  who  expired  on  the  23rd  January,  1820. 


286  MEMOIR   OF   Sm   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

In  abetter,  dated  '  Koseau,  24th  August,  1820,'  lie 
writes  : — '  We  are  going  on  perfectly  well  here,  and  I 
hope  shall  continue  so  to  do.  I  make  it  a  point  to  em- 
ploy all  possible  forbearance  and  moderation  in  all  my 
transactions  with  the  [local]  Colonial  Government,  and  I 
love  to  hope  that  my  efforts  will  be  crowned  with  suc- 
cess.' On  2nd  October,  he  records  the  destructive  effects 
of  a  gale,  and  sends  a  memorial  on  the  subject  to  His 
Majesty.  In  a  later  letter  he  writes,  '  Exercise  is  gene- 
rally considered  as  contributive  to  health  in  this  country. 
For  myself  I  never  took  harder  exercise  even  in  Europe. 
The  other  day  I  walked  upwards  of  twelve  miles  in  a 
broiling  sun ;  a^d  found  myself  aU.  the  better  for  it.' 
This  was  pretty  well  in  a  tropical  mountainous  Island. 
But  Dominica  with  its  small  garrison  had  no  attractions 
for  a  zealous  soldier,  whose  thoughts  were  entirely  turned 
to  India.  As  early  as  May  1821,  he  had  hopes  of  an 
Indian  appointment  ;  and  was  anxious  to  get  Earl 
Bathurst's  leave  to  quit  his  government  as  soon  as  he 
should  be  nominated  to  the  new  post.  At  this  time 
Lady  Whittingham's  health  compelled  her  to  return  to 
Europe  with  the  two  younger  children.  From  his  coun- 
try seat,  '  Bahillard'  on  the  20th  May,  1821,  he  writes 
to  his  brother  with  no  love  for  his  solitary  life  in  the 
little  sugar  Island,  in  which  there  was  little  to  interest 
him  :  '  Were  I  not  provided  with  books  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  prevent  my  spirits  from  sinking  under  it.  I  go 
to  town  [Eoseau]  Tuesdays  and  Thursdays.  I  start  at 
five  in  the  morning,  and  leave  Eoseau  at  five  in  the  even- 
ing.' He  amused  himself  by  writing  home  instructions 
for  the  education  of  his  children,  the  eldest  of  whom  was 
less  than  eight  years  old. 

In  the  same  letter  he  records  his  simple  system  of 
colonial  government.  It  is  perhaps  not  unworthy  of  re- 
cord ;  as  it  is  certain  that  there  seldom  was  a  more 
popular  government  than  liis  brief  one  of  Dominica : — 


HIS   SYSTEM   OF   GOVERNMENT.  287 

'  I  have  not  hitherto  occupied  your  attention  about  the 
affairs  of  this  government ;  because  I  have  not  thought  it 
of  sufficient  importance.  My  own  system  has  been  simple 
and  unvaried.  I  have  never  courted  any  man.  I  have 
never  favoured  any  particular  party.  I  have  constantly 
inculcated,  both  by  precept  and  example,  that  in  all  our 
acts  and  deeds  the  good  of  the  Colony  should  be  our 
only  object ;  and  that  a  spirit  of  harmony  reigning  with- 
out interruption  in  all  the  councils  of  this  Colonial  Legis- 
lature would  be  the  best  and  surest  mode  of  re-estab- 
lishing our  reputation  at  home  1  I  have  lived  retired 
from  society  except  on  particular  occasions ;  and  I  have 
endeavoured,  as  much  as  in  me  lay,  both  by  my  public 
and  private  conduct,  to  justify  my  principles  by  my  ex- 
ample. I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  add,  that  success  has 
crowned  my  endeavours,  and  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Dominica  are  satisfied  with  their  Governor.' 

He  here  omits,  however,  one  of  the  well  known  causes 
of  his  popularity  throughout  his  life,  his  hospitable  din- 
ners, which,  in  spite  of  his  own  temperate  habits,  he  took 
care  should  be  most  excellent  of  their  kind.  His  friend 
Mr.  Murdoch,  the  great  wine  merchant,  selected  his  sherry 
and  madeira.  His  French  friend  Count  Turenne,  who 
had  been  in  the  household  of  Napoleon,  ordered  for  him 
his  champagne  and  claret  direct  from  France,  and  en- 
sured him  the  best  vintages.  Especially  was  this  the  case 
in  India,  but  the  system  was  commenced  in  Dominica. 

In  the  letter  before  quoted,  he  writes :  '  I  hope  to  be 
able  to  forward  to  Lord  Bathurst  by  this  packet  an  act 
of  this  Colonial  Legislature,  containing  many  useful  regu- 
lations in  favour  of  the  slave  population.  The  35th  clause, 
which  establishes  the  admission  of  the  evidence  of  people 
of  colour  in  criminal  cases,  a  privilege  they  did  not  before 
enjoy,  I  consider  as  most  just  and  highly  expedient.'  A 
long  discussion  on  the  state  of  the  Island  concludes  the 
letter. 


288  MEMOIR   OP   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

On  the  5tli  of  October,  1821,  he  describes  his  joy  at 
receiving  the  news  of  his  appointment  as  Quartermaster- 
General  of  the  royal  army  in  India,  and  adds  :  '  In  con- 
sequence of  the  letters  by  this  packet,  I  have  called  the 
Council  and  Assembly  together  for  Monday  next,  when  I 
shall  address  to  them  my  farewell  speech.  I  shall,  how- 
ever, of  course,  not  give  up  the  reins  of  government  till 
I  quit  the  Island.  The  sale  of  my  few  moveables  wiU 
begin  immediately :  I  fear  their  produce  will  be  trifling. 
My  outfit  was  expensive,  but  consisted  almost  exclusively 
of  eatables  and  drinkables,  and  has  therefore  vanished 
without  leaving  a  trace.  You  will  not  hear  from  me  by 
letter  after  this  packet :  for  as  I  go  home  in  the  next, 
I  should  only  be  the  bearer  of  my  own  dispatches.' 

The  popularity  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  in  Domi- 
nica (in  spite  of  his  short  stay  and  his  haste  to  depart) 
was  proved  by  something  more  lasting  than  words,  more 
convincing  than  addresses,  though  these  were  not  want- 
ing. The  inhabitants  of  the  Island  presented  him  with 
the  Grand  Cross  of  San  Fernando,  beautifully  set  in  dia- 
monds, in  testimony  of  his  important  services,  whilst  he 
administered  the  government  of  that  Island.  And  the 
proprietors  of  estates  resident  in  England  also  made  him 
a  present  of  a  dress  sword,  as  a  testimony  of  their  ap- 
probation of  his  conduct.  His  Majesty  George  TV.  was 
moreover  graciously  pleased,  on  his  return  to  England, 
to  make  him  a  Knight  Commander  of  the  Hanoverian 
Guelphic  Order. 

But  even  in  Dominica  with  its  small  garrison,  so  dif- 
ferent from  the  force  he  had  commanded  in  1813,  he  did 
not  forget  the  interests  of  his  soldiers  ;  for,  as  full  Colonel, 
he  had  commanded  the  troops  as  a  consequence  of  being 
Governor.  The  following  letter  was  written  to  Sir  Sam- 
ford  Whittingham  (some  months  after  his  return  to 
England)  by  the  Secretary  at  the  Colonial  Office : — 


BOON   TO   THE   WHITE   SOLDIERS.  289 

'  Downing  Street,  Friday,  18^A  January,  1822. 
'  Sir, — Perhaps  it  will  be  superfluous  for  me  to  inform 
you  that  your  proposition  with  respect  to  the  attachment 
of  ten  black  men,*  &c.  &c.  will  be  immediately  recom- 
mended by  Lord  Bathurst  to  the  consideration  of  His 
Eoyal  Highness  the  Commander-in-Chief;  and  that  your 
other  valuable  suggestions  have  been  attended  to.  But 
as  you  were  so  obhging  as  to  write  to  me  at  my  desire 
upon  these  points,  I  have  thought  it  right  to  apprize 
you  myself  of  the  effect  of  your  letter.  I  have  the 
honour  to  remain, 

'  Your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

'  E.  WiLMOT.' 
*  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  &c.' 

In  this  letter  was  one  to  Mr.  Wilmot  from  Sir  Herbert 
Taylor,  conveying  the  intention  of  H.E.H.  the  Duke  of 
York  to  apply  in  future  the  practice  suggested,  '  in  the 
proportion  of  ten  men  for  each  company  of  the  Euro- 
pean regiments  serving  at  any  time  in  the  West  Indies.' 
What  a  boon  this  was  to  the  non-commissioned  officers 
and  privates  serving  in  that  trying  climate,  even  civilians 
will  be  able  to  comprehend. 

Previously  to  this  correspondence,  the  health  of  Lady 
Whittingham  not  permitting  her  to  proceed  to  India,  the 
General  had  taken  her  and  the  younger  children  to  Paris, 
and  leaving  the  elder  at  their  school  in  England,  to 
spend  their  holidays  with  their  uncle  Mr.  Hart  Davis,  he 
started  on  his  first  long  Indian  exile,  rendered  necessary 
by  his  increase  of  family  and  the  partial  expenditure  and 
partial  loss  of  his  private  fortune. 

It  was  and  is  usual  to  take  introductions  on  going  to 
India  ;  and  certainly.  Colonel  Sir  Samford  Whittingham 
carried  out  with  him,  testimonies  of  which  any  man  might 
well  have  been  proud. 

*  To  each  company  of  infantry. 
U 


290  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S    F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

The  following  letter  was  dictated,  all  but  the  post- 
script, by  the  celebrated  Wilham  Wilberforce,  a  great 
friend  of  Mr.  Harford  of  Blaise  Castle,  Sir  Samford's 
nephew  by  marriage  : — 

To  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Calcutta.* 

'  Near  London,  22nd  April,  1822. 
(Extract.) 

'  My  dear  Lord, — I  at  once  esteem  it  an  honour  and 
feel  it  a  pleasure  to  have  devolved  on  me  the  welcome 
office  of  introducing  to  your  Lordship  Sir  Samford  Whit- 
tingham,  who  is  going  out  to  India  to  fill  the  important 
station  of  Quartermaster-General.  Notwithstanding  your 
having  been  so  long  removed  into  another  hemisphere, 
and  your  attention  solicited  by  such  a  variety  of  new 
and  interesting  objects,  I  can  scarcely  doubt  that  you 
have  kept  in  view  what  has  been  going  forward  in  the 
Western  world,  sufficiently  to  render  it  almost  unneces- 
sary for  me  to  state  to  you  how  high  and  important  a 
place  General  Whittingham  has  occupied  both  on  the 
Continent  (in  Spain),  and  since  as  a  Governor  of  one  of 
our  West  Indian  Islands.  But  I  have  still  greater  plea- 
sure in  telling  you  that  he  is,  I  trust,  under  the  influence 
of  religious  principles,  which  render  him  very  favourable 
to  those  high  objects,  which  though  less  brilliant  in  the 
eyes  of  men  of  the  world,  are  justly  considered  to  be  of 
a  higher  order,  and  more  important  to  the  best  interests 
of  our  fellow-creatures.' 

The  rest  of  the  long  dictated  letter  relates  to  missionary 
work  in  India.  The  signature  and  postscript  are  alone 
written  by  the  great  philanthi'opist  himself.  The  post- 
script says  : — 'A  complaint  in  my  eyes,  which  has  become 
habitual,  compels  me  to  write  by  the  hand  of  another.' 

*  The  Bishop  (Dr.  Middleton)  died  a  few  months  after  the  arrival  at 
Calcutta  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 


wilberforce's  letters.  291 

This  no  doubt  applied  only  to  long  letters ;  for,  five  days 
later,  lie  writes  to  Sir  Sam  ford  the  following  entirely  in 
his  own  hand,  which  however  apparently  must  have  been 
a  great  exertion  to  him,  being  somewhat  difficult  to  de- 
cipher : — 

'  45  Brompton  Kow,  27th  April,  1822. 
(Extract.) 

'  My  dear  Sir, — My  friend  Mr.  Harford  gratified  me 
some  time  ago  by  telling  me  that  you  would  allow  me  to 
have  the  honour  and  pleasure  (for  I  can  truly  say  it  is 
both  the  one  and  the  other  in  my  judgment  and  feelings) 
of  introducing  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta  to  your  acquaint- 
ance. Allow  me,  therefore,  to  request  of  you  to  be  the 
bearer  of  the  inclosed  letter.  I  hope  to  have  the  pleasure 
of  wishing  you  a  good  voyage  in  person  :  but  as  you 
may  make  up  your  letters,  &c.  before  your  departure,  I 
had  better  send  it  now.  The  Bishop,  I  scarcely  need 
assure  you,  is  a  man  of  learning  and  talents,  and  of  piety 
too,  I  trust ;  though  there  was  at  one  time,  not  quite  that 
feeling  expressed  towards  some  of  the  best  of  men  in 
India,  I  mean  regular  clergymen,  too,  that  was  to  be  de- 
sired. I  hope  the  liberal  grant  of  5,000/.  to  the  Bishop's 
College,  and  at  his  disposal,  will  have  done  away  all 
jealousy,  and  have  shown  his  Lordship  the  wish  our 
society  really  feels  to  testify  their  respect  for  his  station 
and  character,  and  their  desire  of  aiding  his  endea- 
vours for  the  public  good.  Of  course  all  this  I  take  the 
liberty  of  throwing  out  confidentially,*  and  remain,  with 
every  good  wish  for  your  health  and  happiness,  my 
dear  Sir  S. 

'  Your  faithful  servant, 

'  W.  WiLBERFORCE.' 

*  General  Sir  S.  Whittingham,  &c.' 

*  After  forty-five  years,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  these  doubts  about  the 
Bishop's  likings  for  certain  missionaries  may  be  published  without  indis- 
cretion. 

u  2 


292  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

Lieut. -General  Sir  H.  Clinton  whom  Sir  Samford  had 
served  under  for  a  short  time  in  1813,  and  Sir  Herbert 
Taylor,  Military  Secretary,  whose  acquaintance  he  had  re- 
cently made,  and  Lieut. -General  Sir  John  Murray,  who 
had  so  often  praised  him  in  General  Orders,  all  wrote 
flattering  letters  introducing  him  to  the  Coiumander- in- 
Chief  in  India,  the  Hon.  Sir  Edward  Paget,  that  brother 
of  the  Marquis  of  Anglesey,  who  both  from  his  public 
and  private  character  might  be  truly  called  the  pearl  of 
the  Pagets. 

From  limited  space  only  three  more  introductions  are 
inserted  in  this  work.    These  are  of  no  common  kind  : — 

H.M.  Kiiig  George  IV.  to  Sir  Edward  Paget 

'  Carlton  House,  27th  A27ril,  1822. 

'  My  dear  Sir  Edward, — This  will  be  delivered  to  you 
by  my  aide-de-camp.  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,*  a  very 
smart,  excellent,  and  distinguished  officer  ;  but  this  must 
be  as  well  known  to  you  as  to  myself.  I  do  desire, 
therefore,  that  you  will  take  every  opportunity  of  shew- 
ing him  kindness  and  advancing  his  interests  :  this  will  be 
truly  felt  by 

'  Your  sincere  friend, 

'  Geoege  E.' 

'  To  His  Excellency  Lieut.-General 

'  The  Hon.  Sir  Edward  Paget,  &c.;  India.' 

The  next  is  official  from  H.R.H.  the  Duke  of  York  ; 
and  gives  Sir  Edward  his  local  rank  of  (full)  General : — 

'  Horse-Guards,  3rc?  May,  1822. 

'  Sir, — Colonel  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  being  about 
to  embark  for  India,  to  take  upon  himself  the  duties  of 
Quartermaster-General  of  the  Force  under  your   com- 

*  Was  it  the  gentlemanly  repugnance  to  call  a  man  Colonel  who  had  so 
long  served  as  a  General^  that  made  His  Majesty  omit  the  military  rank 
altogether  ? 


SIR   HENRY   TORRENS'S    PROPHETICAL    LETTER.         293 

mand,  I  cannot  suffer  him  to  proceed  without  recom- 
mending him  to  you  as  an  officer  highly  deserving  of 
your  confidence. 

'  I  am,  Sir,  yours, 

'  Frederick, 

^  Commander-in-Chief.' 
'  General  the  Hon.  Sir  Edward  Paget,  G.C.B.' 

The  following  letter  is,  on  several  accounts,  especially 
worthy  of  record  : — 

From  Sir  Henry  Torrens^  Adjutant- General.* 

<  Horse- GuAKDS,  4th  May,  1822, 

'  My  dear  Paget, — I  am  desirous  of  presenting  to  you 
the  bearer.  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  in  a  manner  quite 
different  from  the  common  run  of  introductions ;  for  as 
an  officer  and  a  gentleman,  I  think  you  will  find  him  a 
peculiar  acquisition  to  your  Staff.  He  joins  to  a  practical 
knowledge  of  his  profession  every  scientific  acquirement 
which  is  necessary  to  render  him  a  useful  and  distin- 
guished Staff  officer ;  and  I  only  regret  that  the  Consti- 
tution and  usages  in  India  are  so  little  calculated  to 
enable  you  to  benefit  by  Whittingham's  talents,*}"  in  the 
duties  of  his  appointment,  should  you  happen  to  have 
any  service  in  the  field. 

'  Depend  upon  it,  however,  that  you  will  always  find 
him  capable  of  fulfilling  your  expectations,  in  any  situa- 
tion in  which  the  exigencies  of  the  service  may  require 
you  or  enable  you  to  place  him.  You  perhaps  know  that 
Sir  Samford  was  employed  with  the  Spanish  army  from 
the  earhest  period  of  the  revolt  of  that  nation  against  the 

*  So  appointed  25th  March,  1820. 

t  Sir  Henry  Torrens  alludes  to  the  jealous  provisions  against  the  influ- 
ence of  King's  versus  Company's  officers.  The  Quartermaster-General,  for 
instance,  of  all  the  King's  forces  in  India  was,  in  each  Presidency,  a  less 
influential  officer  than  the  Quartermaster-Generals  of  the  three  local  armies. 
With  the  aholition  of  the  Company,  all  have  hecome  Royal  officers. 


294  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

power  of  France ;  and  that  he  held  a  very  considerable 
command  until  the  period  when  he  conducted  King  Fer- 
dinand to  Madrid.  His  devotion  to  the  Spanish  cause 
has  led  him  into  expenses  in  the  public  service  of  that 
country  which  he  has  never  recovered,  and  which  has  so 
materially  impaired  a  private  fortune  once  considerable, 
that  he  is  forced  to  proceed  to  India  as  the  only  probable 
means  left  him  of  benefiting  a  numerous  family,  which 
he  leaves  in  Europe.*  Exclusive  of  this  inducement,  I 
must  add  in  justice  to  Whittingham's  military  zeal,  that 
he  has  long  wished  to  serve  in  the  East,  where  the  ex- 
tensive scale  of  operations  affords  an  ample  field  to  a 
soldier's  laudable  ambition.  It  is  difficult  now  to  say 
whether  any  operations  may  occur  in  India  for  a  length 
of  time.  If  they  do,  depend  upon  it  you  will  never  find 
him  fail  you :  and  whether  they  do  or  not  I  feel  con- 
fident that  you  wiU  lend  your  friendly  hand  towards  the 
aid  of  his  interests  in  any  manner  in  which  you  can 
benefit  the  King's  Quartermaster-General. 

'  I  sincerely  join,  my  dear  Paget,  in  the  desire  felt  by 
aU  your  friends  in  this  country  to  hear  from  you,  and  in 
the  hope  of  good  accounts,  I  remain  ever, 

Yours  most  sincerely, 

'  H.  TORRENS.' 
^  General  Sir  Edward  Paget,  G.C.B.' 

The  words  of  Sir  Henry  Torrens  which  the  Editor  has 
placed  in  italics,  were  (as  the  reader  will  see  in  due  time) 
realized  to  the  letter  in  the  organization  of  the  Indian 
army,  and  in  the  preparations  for  the  campaign  in  Bur- 
mah,  and  for  the  siege  of  Bhurtpore. 

*  Sir  Samford,  it  seems,  liad  not  imparted  to  Sir  Henry  Torrens  the 
cause  of  his  other  losses  of  fortune. 


LETTER  FROM  MR.  BARTLE  FRERE.        295 

Sir  Samford  Whittingliam  to  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  Madras,  ^OtJi  Septemhe)-,  1822. 

'  Our  passage  was  long  and  tedious,  but  tranquil  and 
easy.  General  Sir  Alexander  Campbell '  [Commander-in- 
Chief  at  Madras],  '  sent  one  of  his  aides-de-camp  on  board 
the  ''Lady  Raffles,^^  with  a  very  kind  note  requesting  me 
to  occupy  a  room  in  his  house.  I  had  not  seen  him 
since  the  battle  of  Talavera,  where  we  were  both 
wounded.  The  24th,  I  landed  early  in  the  morning,  and 
breakfasted  with  him.  His  attentions  to  me  have  been 
unceasing.  Lord  Hastings  will  sail  from  Calcutta  towards 
the  end  of  December.  A  vessel  in  the  service  of  the 
Company  has  already  sailed  from  Bombay,  with  orders  to 
touch  at  Ceylon  and  bring  Sir  Edward  Paget  and  family 
to  Calcutta.  He  will  probably  arrive  in  the  course  of 
November. 

'  27id  September. — To-morrow  we  sail  for  Calcutta.' 

How  Sir  Samford  had  been  appreciated  at  Madras  is 
recorded  in  a  letter  written  some  months  later  in  London 
by  Mr.  Bartle  Frere,  dated  only  'Friday  night,'  and 
without  address,  but  evidently  written  to  Mr.  Hart 
Davis  : — 

'  On  returning  home  to-night,  I  find  a  letter  from  my 
friend  to  whom  I  recommended  Whittingham,  at  Madras, 
by  which  I  have  the  pleasure  of  informing  you  of  his 
safe  arrival  there.  It  is  dated  October  the  4th.  I  sup- 
pose he  must  have  been  there  some  days,  for  my  corre- 
spondent says  :  "  he  is  a  most  dehghtful  personage,  much 
liked  by  all  who  have  had  an  opportunity  of  cultivating 
his  acquaintance."  In  another  passage  he  says,  "your 
friend  is  still  detained  here,  and  will  not  proceed  on  his 
voyage  yet  for  a  few  days.  He  resides  with  Sir  A. 
Campbell,  so  that  we  meet  almost  daily,  and  so  pleasant 
do  we  all  find  him  that  we  not  only  regret  the  shortness 
of  his  stay  among  us,  but  wish  that  he  were  finally  fixed 


296  MEMOIR    OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITJJNGHAM. 

at  Madras,  instead  of  Calcutta."     I  am  surprised  that  we 
have  nothing  from  Whittingham.' 

It  appears  by  one  of  his  letters  that  the  latter  arrived 
at  Calcutta  on  the  2nd  November,  1822.  The  following 
was  written  by  Sir  Samford  after  making  acquaintance 
with  the  Marquis  of  Hastings,  then  Governor-General  and 
also  Commander-in-Chief : — 

To  his  Brother-in-laiv . 

'  Calcutta,  26th  Novembei-,  1822. 

'  I  have  not  yet  been  enabled  to  procure  a  house,  but 
I  am  in  hopes  of  succeeding  within  a  day  or  two.  Com- 
modore Hayes  has  very  kindly  given  me  a  lodging  in  his 
house,  without  which  assistance  I  really  know  not  what 
I  should  have  done  ;  for  Sir  Thomas  Macmahon*  has  no 
spare  room,  and  the  hotels  are  not  frequented  by  gentle- 
men. I  have  spent  a  week  in  Barrackpore  with  Lord 
Hastings.     I  never  knew  a  more  delightful  man.' 

He  sent  his  brother-in-law  some  extracts  from  his 
journal  since  his  arrival  in  Calcutta,  a  very  few  of  which, 
and  these  curtailed,  follow  here. 

'  Calcutta,  2nd  Novembef',  1822. — Nothing  can  exceed 
the  magnificent  view  which  the  entrance  into  Calcutta 
presents.'  [Here,  there  is  a  long  description,  needless  to 
quote,  of  oft-described  beauties.]  '  The  climate  is  now 
as  delightful  as  the  scenery  is  enchanting,  the  thermo- 
meter ranging  from  65°  to  75°.  Land  of  magnificent  re- 
collections, I  hail  thee  !  Thy  history  of  the  past,  thy 
present  greatness,  thy  future  changes — are  all  equally 
interesting ;  and  nothing  which  relates  to  India  can  be 
considered  with  indifference. 

'At  half-past  two  I  landed  at  Calcutta,  and  Commo- 
dore Hayes  insisted  upon  my  occupying  rooms  in  his 
house.    I  never  in  any  part  of  the  world  experienced  such 

*  Then  Adjutant-General  of  the  royal  army  in  India. 


A   MOST   POPULAR   MARQUIS.  297 

hospitality  from  anyone  as  from  the  Commodore  and  his 
family.* 

'  1th  November. — I  called  this  morning  on  Marquis 
Hastings  at  Government  House.  He  received  me  very 
kindly,  spoke  with  much  interest  on  the  subject  of  the 
late  war,  and  finally  took  credit  to  himself  for  the  pre- 
sent prosperous  state  of  India.  The  16th  Lancers  are  just 
arrived,  and  we  compared  the  advantages  and  disadvan- 
tages of  the  sabre  and  the  lance.  To  elucidate  the  dis- 
cussion, the  Marquis  ordered  two  of  the  native  lances  to 
be  produced.  They  are  made  of  bamboo,  very  elastic 
and  very  light.  The  Marquis  took  one  lance,  I  took 
another ;  we  pointed  our  weapons,  and  advanced  to  the 
charge.  My  Uncle  Toby  and  Corporal  Trim  could  not 
have  done  it  better. 

'At  seven  in  the  evening  I  returned  to  dinner.  Lady 
Hastings  made  her  appearance  at  half-past  eight.'  [A 
very  graphic  but  not  equally  flattering  description  of  her 
Ladyship  is  here  omitted.]  'The  Marquis  himself  is  the 
model  of  a  perfect  English  gentleman,  and  had  Lady 
Hastings!  not  accompanied  him  to  India,  he  would  have 
been  the  most  popular  Governor-General  that  ever  yet 
presided  over  the  affairs  of  that  Government. 

'  Lord  Hastings  dines  in  the  French  style,  the  gentle- 
men accompany  the  ladies  to  the  drawing-room.  This  is 
to  me  on  every  account  delightful,  and  particularly  so 
in  the  present  case,  as  it  furnishes  ample  opportunity  for 
long  and  interesting  conversations  with  his  Lordship.' 

Sir  Samford  then  describes  at  large  the  details  given 
by  his  Lordship  of  his  successful  administration  of  the 

*  Nothing  strikes  an  Englisliman  on  first  arriving  in  India  more  than 
the  boundless  hospitality  of  his  countrymen. 

t  A  haughtiness  of  manner  (that  may  have  been  unintentional)  was 
apparently  the  chief  cause  of  this  lady's  unpopularity  in  India.  She  is 
said,  however^  to  have  also  habitually  kept  her  guests  waiting  dinner  for 
hours. 


298  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

finances  of  India,  in  spite  of  the  great  expenses  of  a  three 
years'  war. 

The  journal  then  proceeds, — 'His  Lordship  related 
many  amusing  anecdotes  of  Scindiah,  Ameer  Khan,  and 
Holkar.  His  system  of  espionage  was  so  well  organized 
during  the  war,  that  he  always  received  with  the  least 
possible  loss  of  time,  copies  of  the  information  sent  to  the 
enemy.  This  generally  consisted  of  observations  made 
on  him  personally,  and  the  deductions  were  very  curious. 
His  Lordship's  smiles  and  frowns,  seriousness  and  gaiety, 
nay,  the  very  pace  he  rode  in  his  morning's  exercise, 
were,  according  to  these  deep  observers,  all  the  result 
of  political  causes.  And  not  a  single  action  of  his  life, 
however  trivial,  could  they  allow  to  take  place,  with- 
out attributing  it  to  some  great  and  mighty  hidden 
cause.' 

Next  comes  the  visit  to  Lord  Hastings,  at  Barrackpore. 
The  Marquis  had  been  more  than  nine  years  in  his  high 
position,  having  been  appointed  on  the  12th  March, 
1813:— 

From  the  Marquis  of  Hastings. 

[Calcutta],  *  ^th  November,  1822. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — Next  Friday  morning,  we  shall  return 
to  Barrackpore,  to  pass  a  week,  possibly  our  last,  at  that 
pleasant  place.  As  you  may  like  to  see  it,  and  your 
company  there  would  be  gratifying  to  Lady  Hastings  and 
myself,  I  cannot  omit  trying  to  tempt  you  thither.  It 
will  be  a  novelty  to  you  to  be  lodged  in  a  bungalow, 
but  I  trust  you  would  find  it  no  uncomfortable  accom- 
modation. 

'  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  my  dear  Sir, 

'  Your  very  obedient  servant, 

'  Hastings.' 

'  Sir  S.  F.  Whittingham,  &c.' 


LOED  Hastings's  flattering  confidence.       299 

Extracts  of  Joiiiiial  continued. 

'  Barrackpore,  16th  November,  1822. — I  left  the  hospi- 
table mansii^n  of  Commodore  Hayes,  at  six  this  morning, 
and  arrived  at  this  beautiful  mansion  of  the  Governor- 
General,  at  half  past  seven,  distance  sixteen  miles.'* 
[After  describing  the  luxurious  comforts  provided  for 
him  and  the  kind  attentions  shown  him  by  the  Marquis, 
and  also  detailing  the  habits  of  the  household  at  Barrack- 
pore  ;  he  describes  his  '  first  elephantine  excursion ']  : 
'  Captain  Doyle  called  for  me  at  five  o'clock.  The  how- 
dah  or  castle  contains  tv^o  persons  with  ease.  The  ele- 
phant lies  down,  a  ladder  is  placed  against  his  side, 
which  you  ascend,  to  take  your  lofty  seat.  The  animal 
is  commonly  twelve  feet  high.  I  like  his  motion,  and 
prefer  this  mode  of  conveyance  to  any  other.  A  thousand 
recollections  of  the  grandeur  of  the  House  of  Timour, 
of  war  and  battle,  and  the  rise  and  fall  of  mighty  em- 
pires, are  conjured  up  by  being  mounted  on  this  noble 
animal. 

'17  th  Nov. — Lord  Hastings  took  me  with  him  this 
morning  at  five  o'clock,  on  his  favourite  elephant,  through 
the  cantonment  of  four  battalions  of  native  infantry,  situ- 
ated on  the  open  ground  beyond  the  park.  His  conver- 
sation is  always  interesting  and  instructive,  and  his  good- 
ness and  kindness  to  me  are  flattering  in  the  extreme. 

'  18^A  Nov. — The  house  in  w^hich  I  am  lodged,  is  not 
properly  a  bungalow  (which  is  in  fact  a  thatched  cot- 
tage), but  a  square  building  composed  of  four  habitations, 
with  a  large  dining-room  in  the  centre.  Mr.  Adam,  who 
will  hold  the  Government  ad  interim,  after  the  departure 
of  Lord  Hastings,  occupies  one  suite  of  rooms.  Major 
Taylor,  the  director  of  the  college  of  writers,  another,  the 
third  is  vacant,  and  I  occupy  the  fourth.     The  Marquis 

*  All  mere  local  descriptions  are  omitted.   Tliis  journal  alone  would  make 
a  good  sized  pamphlet ! 


300  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGIIAM. 

is  kind  and  attentive  to  me  beyond  measure,  and  I  find 
in  the  familiar  intercourse  with  which  he  is  pleased  to 
honour  me,  the  greatest  source  of  enjoyment.  I  certainly 
never  experienced  so  much  confidence  from  any  great 
man  in  so  short  an  acquaintance,  as  from  Lord  Hastings. 

'  19th  Nov. — This  morning  after  breakfast,  Lord  Hast- 
ings *  desired  me  to  accompany  him  to  his  study,  where 
he  was  pleased  to  submit  to  my  perusal  the  following 
interesting  documents.' — [Briefly,  they  were  five  im- 
portant political  correspondences,  on  the  principal  trans- 
actions of  Lord  Hastings,  political,  diplomatic,  and  financial 
affairs,  including  matters  concerning  the  King  of  Oude, 
the  Peishwa,  and  the  Eajah  of  Bhurtpore.  Of  these 
documents,  one  was  : — ]  '  A  letter  from  the  Kesident  at 
Oude,  giving  an  account  of  his  having  communicated  to 
the  King  the  intended  departure  of  Lord  Hastings.  The 
King  of  Oude  was  so  affected  at  the  news,  that  for  some 
time,  he  could  not  speak.  At  length,  a  flood  of  tears 
came  to  his  relief,  and  he  burst  forth  into  the  most  bitter 
lamentations.'  [The  Eajah  of  Bhurtpore  had  very  prac- 
tically proved  the  influence  over  him  of  the  Governor- 
General.  Sir  Samford  remarks  : — ]  '  When  we  reflect 
upon  this  Eaj all's  triumph  over  our  forces  under  Lord 
Lake,  and  upon  his  extreme  vanity  and  arrogance  since 
that  period,  this  change  of  sentiment  and  manner  does 
great  credit  to  the  able  negotiations  of  Lord  Hastings.' 

[When  he  penned  these  words.  Sir  Samford  little  ima- 
gined that  he  himself  was  destined  to  contribute  greatly 
to  the  final  downfall  of  this  haughty  Eajah.] 

'After  finishing  the  perusal  of  these  documents,  his 
Lordship  related  the  following  anecdotes  of  the  King  of 
Ava  and  of  Scindiah. 

'  Whilst  the  Marquis  was  engaged  in  the  war  against 

*  Lord  Hastings  being  Commander-in-Chief  as  well  as  Governor-General, 
tlie  Quartermaster- General  was  under  his  immediate  orders.  But  officially 
the  latter  had  nothing  to  do  with  civil  affairs. 


LORD  Hastings's  flattering  confidence.        301 

Central  India,  he  received  an  embassy  from  the  King  of 
Ava,  ordering  him  to  restore  immediately  to  the  empire 
of  the  Burmese,  their  natural  frontiers,  by  delivering  up, 
to  the  officers  he  should  appoint,  Dacca  and  all  its  corre- 
sponding territories.  The  Governor-General  sent  back  the 
King  of  Ava's  letter  upon  the  pretended  supposition  that 
it  was  a  forgery  quite  unknown  to  the  King,  and  evi- 
dently invented  by  some  enemy  to  the  peace  and  tran- 
quillity which  so  happily  reigned  between  the  two 
empires.  Nothing  more  was  heard  of  the  pretensions  of 
the  King  of  Ava.' 

The  anecdote  regarding  Scindiah,  (too  long  for  insertion 
here)  proved  how  Lord  Hastings  had  won  his  gratitude 
and  effective  services  by  boldly  reposing  confidence  in 
him  at  a  critical  moment. 

The  following  is  the  only  other  note  of  his  Lordship's 
to  Sir  Samford,  besides  the  one  already  quoted,  that  has 
reached  the  Editor's  hands  : — 

[Calcutta]  '■  2^th  November,  1822. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — If  you  have  no  other  engagement  for 
Wednesday  or  Thursday,  let  me  beg  of  you  to  favour  us 
with  your  company  to  dinner  on  either  of  these  days 
which  may  best  suit  you.  Many  thanks  for  the  Archduke 
Charles's  narrative.  Though  I  have  only  been  able  to 
give  a  hasty  glance  at  it,  I  have  had  a  lesson  from  it. 
With  decent  self-sufficiency,  I  had  flattered  myself  that 
I  had  conceived  and  digested  novel  principles  respecting 
mountain  warfare,  and  I  have  found  all  my  notions, 
superiorily  detailed  in  the  observations  on  the  inroad  into 
the  Tyrol.— 

'  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  my  dear  Sir, 

'  Your  very  obedient  servant, 

'  Hastings.' 

'  Sir  S.  F.  Whittingham,  &c.' 


302  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham  to  his  Brother-in-law. 

^  Calcutta,  Qth  Dece^nher,  1822. 

'  To-day  the  address  has  been  presented  to  Lord  Hast- 
ings, and  he  made  his  reply.  Sir  Edward  Paget  is 
arrived  in  the  river.*  On  the  28th  Lord  Hastings  sails 
in  the  "  Glasgow^''  Captain  Doyle,  for  the  Mediterranean. 
It  is  strongly  rumoured  here  that  Mr.  Canning  will  not 
come  out,  that  Lord  Wellesley  will  be  appointed  Governor- 
General,  and  Lord  Hastings  go  to  Ireland  in  his  room. 
This  arrangement,  if  there  were  any  truth  in  it,  would 
please  the  people  of  this  country  amazingly :  for  Lord 
Wellesley  is  more  popular  amongst  all  ranks  and  all 
classes  than  I  can  possibly  express. 

'  To-morrow  I  commence  the  Persian  language  ;  at 
which  I  shall  work  as  though  recommencing  life.' 

The  account  of  the  first  meeting  of  Sir  Samford  Whit- 
tingham with  Sir  Edward  Paget,  the  man  Avho  was  to 
become  to  him  a  more  than  second  Cadogan,  has  not 
reached  the  Editor's  hands.  The  appearance  and  man- 
ners of  the  new  Commander-in-Chief,  even  before  there 
was  time  to  appreciate  his  inestimable  mental  and  moral 
qualities,  were  calculated  to  win  all  hearts,  and  to  com- 
mand universal  respect.  Though  both  the  Chief  and  his 
Quartermaster-General  had  fought  and  bled  in  the 
Peninsula,  they  had  never  yet  met  as  acquaintances.  But 
they  were  soon  destined  to  become  both  officially  and 
privately  the  best  and  truest  of  friends,  thus  reahzing  in 
a  wonderful  degree  the  sanguine  anticipations  of  Sir 
Henry  Torrens's  remarkable  letter  of  introduction. 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham's  first  opinions  in  favour  of 
the  Marquis  of  Hastings  were  afterwards  considerably 
modified,  on  discovering  the  wretchedly  inefficient  state 
in  which  that  nobleman  had  left  the  army  of  Bengal, 

*  From  Ceylon,  where  lie  had  been  Governor. 


SIR  EDWARD  PAGET.  303 

wMcli  he  had  sacrificed  entirely  to  his  otherwise  laud- 
able schemes  of  economy.  In  India,  especially,  to  be 
ready  for  war  is  indispensable  to  the  permanent  security 
of  peace ;  and  the  expenses  of  the  Burmese  war,  and  of 
the  Bhurtpore  campaign  were  of  course  greatly  increased 
by  the  Marquis's  neglect  of  this  maxim.  Though  he  saved 
money  himself,  he  became  a  main  cause  of  the  expen- 
diture of  his  successors,  who  were  compelled  in  haste  to 
supply  what  he  had  failed  at  leisure  to  provide — a  weU 
organized  military  force. 

In  this  respect  Sir  Edward  Paget  had  a  great  and 
arduous  task  to  perform,  and  he  performed  it  well,  with 
the  assistance  of  that  Staff-officer  whom  he  most  esteemed 
and  on  whom  he  most  relied  ;  and  to  whom,  with  a 
generosity  as  magnanimous  as  it  is  rare,  he  gave  to  the 
utmost  of  his  power,  his  fuU  share  of  the  honour  and 
credit  due  to  their  united  and  indefatiga.ble  exertions ;  as 
will  be  seen  in  the  next  and  following  chapters. 


304  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

1823—1825. 

DEATH  OP  THE  MAEQUIS  OP  LONDON^DERRY — DEATH  OF  DISHOP  MID- 
DLETON — SIR  EDWARD  PAGET's  PLATTERING  PROPOSAL — INDIA  SHOULD 
BE  RULED  BY  A  VICEROY — THE  KING  OP  OUDE  —  A  HANDSOME  COM- 
MANDER-IN-CHIEP — REORGANIZATION  OF  BENGAL  ARMY  INDISPENSABLE 
— ^WRETCHED  STATE  OF  MILITARY  MEANS — ARDUOUS  OFFICIAL  LABOURS 
— ENCOURAGEMENT  TO  SMOKERS — SIR  EDWARD  PAGET's  SOLE  SOURCE 
OF  COMPORT — THE  MUTINY  AT  BARRACKPORE — SIR  SAMFORD's  REPORT 
OF  THE  MUTINY — HIS  SUBSEQUENT  DEFENCE  OF  SIR  EDWARD  PAGET — 
DEATH  OF  SIR  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL — THE  ALTER  EGO  OF  THE  COM- 
MANDER-IN-CHIEF— SIR  HERBERT  TAYLOR'S  LETTER  TO  SIR  SAMFORD — 
ILLNESS  OF  SIR  EDWARD  PAGET  —  ADVICE  FOLLOWED  FORTY  YEARS 
LATER — LORD     COMBERMERE's    ARRIVAL  —  FIRST    IMPRESSIONS    OF    HIS 

lordship  —  character  of  sir  edward  paget — parting  exchange 
of  presents— the  hookah  and  the  '  admiral  ' — lord  comber- 
mere's  advance  to  besiege  bhurtpore— efficient  preparations 

OWING  TO  SIR  EDWARD  PAGET — LORD  COMBERMERE's  TEMPORARY  COLD- 
NESS  TO   SIR  SAMFORD  WHITTINGHAM. 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham.  to  his  Brother-in-law. 

^  Calcutta,  IWi  January,  1823. 

'  We  yesterday  received  the  melanclioly  intelligence  that 
Lord  Londonderry  ^  had  put  a  period  to  his  existence. 
Gracious  God!  when  such  a  man  as  this  finds  life  too 
great  a  burden  to  be  borne,  who  amongst  us  can  place 
confidence  in  himself?  Who  can  say,  "  fountain  of  thy 
waters  I  will  never  drink"?  No  doubt  his  mind  must 
have  been  partially  deranged,  but  this  is  a  poor  conso- 
lation ;  for  madness  has  so  many  shades  that  its  bound- 
aries are  scarcely  to  he  defined,  nor  can  its  approaches 
be  easily  guarded  against. 

*  Better  known  as  A'iscoiint  Castlereagh.    - 


DEATH    OF   BISHOP   MIDDLETON.  305 

'  Lady  Harriet  Paget  will  sail  for  England  this  month. 
The  General  will  begin  the  journey  to  the  interior  early 
in  July.' 

On  the  19th  January,  1823,  Sir  Samford  Whitting- 
ham  writes,  '  Lady  Harriet  Paget  sails  the  latter  end  of 
this  month.  She  is  without  exception  one  of  the  most 
amiable  women  I  ever  knew.  I  cultivate  Sir  Edward's 
friendship,  and  am  every  day  more  dehghted  with  him.' 

lo  the  Same. 

*  Calcutta,  8th  February y  1823. 

'  The  season  is  very  fine,  and  yet  we  have  lost  many 
men  of  mark  within  the  last  six  months ;  the  Bishop,* 
the  Archdeacon,  the  Chief  Justice,  the  Surveyor-General 
Mr.  Good,  one  of  the  principal  judges.  Dr.  Jameson, 
brother-in-law  to  Torrens,  and  many  others ! 

'  I  continue  my  water  and  vegetable  diet.  I  do  not 
even  eat  fish.  Sir  Edward  is  not  yet  returned  from  ac- 
companying Lady  Harriet  down  the  river.  He  is  expected 
to-day.  She  has  taken  charge  of  a  letter  for  you.  You 
will  find  her  to  be  everything  that  is  amiable  and  good 
and  kind.  We  expect  to  begin  our  journey  at  the  end 
of  June.  Our  expedition  will  last  full  two  years.  We 
are  all  anxiety  to  know  if  Mr.  Canning  comes  out,  and  if 
not  who  replaces  him.' 

The  following  letter  gives  the  earliest  indications  of  Sir 
Edward  Paget's  desire  to  profit  by  the  zeal  and  ability  of 
the  Quartermaster-General  of  the  King's  army,  in  India  ; 
qualities  the  more  valuable  from  the  (at  that  period) 
generally  notorious  inefficiency  of  the  wonted  channels  of 
the  General  Staff,  the  Company's  officers,  for  carrying  on 
the  business  of  the  Commander-in-Chief: — 

*  Dr.  Middleton,  to  whom  Mr.  Wilberforce  introduced  Sir  Samford. 

X 


306  MEMOIR   OF  Sm  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 


Sir  Samford  Whittingham  to  the  Hon.  Sir 
Edward  Paget. 

*  Choweinghee,  IQth  February,  1823. 

'My  dear  General, — Lieutenant  Colonel  Marley*  has 
mentioned  to  me  your  truly  kind  intentions  of  employ- 
ing my  very  weak  means,  but  most  excellent  good  will. 
I  shall  be  delighted  to  be  made  useful  in  any  way  you 
may  think  proper ;  and  to  merit  your  approbation  will 
be  ever  my  highest  ambition.  I  have  taken  the  liberty 
of  enclosing  a  sketch  of  the  information  I  ought  to  have 
been  able  to  lay  before  you  on  your  arrival,  if  I  had 
been  really  the  Quartermaster-General  of  the  Indian 
army.  Would  you  have  the  condescension  to  point 
out  to  me  anything  I  have  omitted,  or  to  suggest  any 
other  arrangement  that  may  appear  to  you  better  ?  It 
is  true  I  am  now  but  a  cypher,  but  should  the  chance 
of  war  ever  render  me  effective  under  your  command, 
I  should  be  most  anxious  to  be  enabled  to  anticipate 
your  general  ideas,  as  well  as  to  implicitly  obey  your 
commands. 

'  I  fear  this  crazy  machine  of  mine  wiU  again  deprive 
me  of  the  honour  of  dining  with  you.  Nicholson  talks 
of  bleeding  and  medicining  again  to-morrow ;  but  no 
bodily  illness  that  leaves  my  reason  free  will  ever  pre- 
vent my  employing  myself  in  the  execution  of  your 
orders. 

'  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  the  most  profound  re- 
spect, '  My  dear  General, 

'  Your  most  devoted  servant, 

'  Samford  Whittingham.* 

'  General  tlie  Hon.  Sir  Edward  Paget, 

*  Commander-in-Chief,  G.C.B.,  &c.  &c.' 


*  Colonel  Marley  was  tlie  Military  Secretary  of  Sir  Edward  Paget,  and 
head  of  his  Personal  Staff. 


SIR   EDWARD    PAGET'S   FLATTERING   PROPOSAL.        307 

On  the  19th  February,  he  mentions  to  Mr.  Davis  the 
intention  of  Sir  Edward  Paget  to  employ  him  '  in  draw- 
ing up  a  general  state  of  India  at  present,  particularly  as 
to  the  military  department.  He  has  let  me  know  that 
he  does  not  mean  to  take  the  merit  of  the  expose  him- 
self, but  to  send  it  to  the  Duke  of  York  as  mine.  And 
he  has  been  pleased  to  add  that  he  knows  nobody  more 
capable  of  executing  a  plan  of  such  high  importance.' 

On  the  24th  March,  1823,  he  writes:  'We  have  re- 
ceived the  accounts  of  the  nomination  of  Lord  Amherst 
as  Governor-General.'  On  the  4th  April  he  tells  his 
brother-in-law  '  I  am  on  the  point  of  setting  off  with  the 
Commander-in-Chief,  on  a  visit  to  the  Governor-General.' 
He  adds  a  sentence  worthy  of  record,  as  regards  its  bear- 
ing on  a  stormy  future,  then  approaching  :  '  Sir  Edward 
and  Mr.  Adam'  [the  temporary  Governor-General]  '  are 
perfect  models  of  what  rulers  should  be.  God  grant  the 
new  Governor  may  harmonize  with  all  their  feelings,  and 
fully  co-operate  with  all  their  measures.  A  hundred  mil- 
lions of  souls,  and  an  army  of  250,000  men  are  weighty 
concerns  to  be  arranged  by  such  men  as  the  East  India 
Directors.  If  this  were  a  Yice-Eoyalty  under  the  King's 
government,  it  would  be  the  brightest  jewel  in  the 
crown;  the  most  powerful  Colony  that  ever  existed  in 
the  -world.' 

For  the  long  and  many  letters  describing  his  tour 
with  his  Chief  in  Bengal,  from  July  to  December,  there 
is  not  space  even  for  extracts.  He  was  all  this  time 
(besides  keeping  up  a  voluminous  correspondence  with 
Mr.  Davis)  making  himself,  practically  as  well  as  theo- 
retically, thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  great  Indian 
Empire  in  all  its  bearings ;  and  his  pleasant  intercourse 
with  his  Chief  was  daily  ripening  into  the  warmest  per- 
sonal friendship,  as  well  as  mutual  official  esteem. 
Though  Quartermaster-General,  Sir  Edward  insisted  on 
his  living  with  him  on  the  tour  like  one  of  his  personal 

X  2 


308  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTlxVGHAM. 

staff;  thus  adding  to  his  comfort  and  lessening  his  ex- 
penses.* They  visited  Patna,  Gazeepoor,  Cawnpore, 
Futtyghiir,  and  Agra. 

His  letters  to  his  brother  contain  graphic  pictures  of 
an  Indian  Commander-in-Chief's  tour  through  the  pro- 
vinces. Two  sentences  must  suffice  to  give  an  idea  of 
accounts  which  would  fill  a  volume  : — 

'  2nd  Nov[_ember^  1823.] — Unless  I  were  to  copy  one 
of  the  stories  of  the  Arabian  Nights'  Entertainment,  it 
would  be  very  difficult  for  me  to  convey  even  a  tolerably 
just  idea  of  the  fete  of  last  night  given  by  the  King  of 
Oude  to  Sir  Edward  Paget.' 

After  describing  the  almost  incredible  splendours  of 
the  entertainment,  the  profusion  of  jewels  and  precious 
metals,  and  all  the  forms  and  ceremonies  and  magnificent 
presents,  he  thus  winds  up  his  account : — '  I  have  never 
before  witnessed  so  enchanting  a  scene.  No  description 
in  Lalla-Eookh  exceeds  the  reality  of  what  we  saw,  and 
only  such  a  pen  as  Moore's  could  paint  the  delightful 
illusion  of  this  fairy  fete  !  The  King  did.  the  honours  of 
the  reception  with  dignified  ease,  and  his  benign  and 
good  countenance  well  became  the  costly  diamonds  and 
lovely  pearls  with  which  his  head  and  neck  and  arms 
and  hands  were  ornamented.  His  dress  was  a  shawl 
pelisse  of  inestimable  value,  and  his  whole  appearance 
truly  magnificent. 

'  Sir  Edward  Paget's  noble  and  handsome  countenance, 
the  emblem  of  every  manly  virtue,  did  honour  to  the 
distinction  he  was  receiving,  and  completely  filled  up  the 
picture,  by  a  living  demonstration  that  there  is  no  real 
greatness  but  that  which  has  virtue  for  its  basis.  I  have 
never,  in  the  course  of  my  long  wanderings,  met  with 
any  man  approaching  so  near  to  perfection  as  a  soldier,  a 
gentleman,  and  a  Christian.' 

*  The  Commander-in-Chief  at  that  time  had  more  than  £16,000  a  year. 


WRETCIIEB   STATE    OF   MILITARY   MEANS.  309 

In  the  beginning  of  1824  Sir  Edward  Paget,  now  on 
his  tour,  was  encamped  at  Meerut.  In  a  long  letter  to 
his  usual  correspondent,  dated  Meerut,  20th  February, 
Sir  Samford  relates  how  he  had  offered  his  services  to 
Sir  Edward  for  an  expected  Burmese  Campaign,  no  en- 
viable command,  considering  the  terrible  climate.  '  He 
replied,  "  Where  I  go,  you  shall  go,  and  you  never  shall 
be  separated  from  me.'"  Few  things  in  this  life  have  ever 
given  me  more  pleasure.  It  is  and  has  been  ever  my 
utmost  ambition  to  merit  the  esteem  and  confidence  of 
this  model  of  everything  that  is  great  and  good.' 

On  the  20th  March  Sir  Samford  returned  to  Calcutta. 
There  he  and  his  Chief  were  busy  making  preparation' 
for  the  Burmese  war.  Whilst  at  Calcutta  Sir  Samford 
received  a  letter  dated  'Fyzabad,  May  1824,'  from  his 
young  friend  Mr.  (now  Lord)  William  Godolphin  Os- 
borne* (who  had  at  one  time  been  his  guest),  giving  a 
long  account  of  a  very  successful,  exciting,  and  dangerous 
tiger  hunt.  His  friendship  for  Mr.  Osborne  lasted  for  life, 
as  did  their  occasional  correspondence. 

If  our  Indian  empire  can  now  be  considered  safe,  it  is 
because  many  of  the  reforms  considered  indispensable  by 
Sir  Edward  Paget  and  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  have 
been  introduced  since  the  faulty  old  system  came  to  an 
end  with  the  great  Indian  Mutiny. 

On  the  17th  May,  1824,  he  reports  the  commencement 
of  the  Burmese  War,  and  also  adds  the  following  sen- 
tence, ominous  of  that  coming  mutiny,  which,  if  Sir  Ed- 
ward had  met  it  with  the  coaxing  and  rose-water  system 
by  which  the  articles  of  war  were  then  constantly  diluted 
for  the  benefit  of  the  natives,  might  have  anticipated  in 
its  horrors  its  successor  of  thirty-three  years  later.  '  The 
new  regulations  have   curtailed   the  allowances  of  this 

*  In  1832  he  became  Honourable^  on  Lis  father  being  created  Lord  Go- 
dolphin  ;  and  in  1859  he  obtained  the  title  of  Lord,  on  the  succession  of  his 
brother  to  the  Dukedom  of  Leeds. 


310  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

[the  Bengal]  army,  to  such  an  extent  that  the  highest 
discontent  prevails  throughout.  If  they  are  carried  into 
effect,  you  will,  I  fear,  hear  of  very  serious  conse- 
quences.' On  the  20th  he  gives  his  brother-in-law  some 
details  of  the  progress  of  the  Burmese  War,  and  of  the 
excitement  and  even  anxiety  in  India. 

On  the  10th  May  he  had  written  :  '  You  will  be 
pleased  to  hear,  entre  nous,  that  Sir  Edward  Paget  has 
been  pleased  to  honour  me  with  his  complete  and  un- 
reserved confidence.  He  calls  for  me  every  morning  at 
daylight  in  his  open  carriage,  and  we  ride  alone  till  the 
sun  obliges  us  to  retire.' 

'  To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  Calcutta,  10th  June,  1824. 

'  I  wrote  to  you  yesterday,  enclosing  a  letter  to  Sir 
Herbert  Taylor,  giving  some  account  of  our  late  proceed- 
ings. But  it  is  impossible  to  convey  a  just  idea  of  the 
state  to  which  we  are  reduced  as  to  military  preparation, 
without  entering  into  details  too  minute  for  the  contents 
of  a  letter.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  we  have  not  a  single 
twelve-pound  shot  in  the  arsenal,  and  that  we  are  700 
gun  carriages  short  of  our  present  wants  ! 

'  Sir  Edward  has  given  up  the  organization  of  the 
flotilla  to  Commodore  Hayes  and  myself.  By  the  end  of 
this  month  we  shall,  I  trust,  have  thirty  gunboats  and 
twelve  armed  brigs  completely  equipped,  manned  and 
armed,  and  soon  after  complete  our  number  of  gunboats 
to  a  hundred.' 

On  the  30th  June  he  writes  :  '  The  work  of  this  month 
has  been  great,  and  we  are  fast  recovering  from  the  state 
of  weakness  we  were  in  when  I  last  wrote ; '  and  he 
proceeds  to  enumerate  the  details. 

He  had  still  hopes  that  Sir  Edward  Paget  was  about* 
to  take  the  field  in  person  in  Burmah,  and  longed  for 


SLIGHT  TENURE    OF   INDIA.  311 

active  service  as  a  field  for  military  distinction.  On  tlie 
1st  August  he  writes :  '  The  season  has  been  uncommonly 
sickly.  Not  five  people  out  of  one  hundred  have  escaped 
fever :  but  the  mortahty  has  been  trilling  in  comparison 
to  the  number  who  have  been  ill.  The  three  great 
smokers  of  Calcutta,  viz.,  Sir  Edward  Paget,  Laruletta,* 
and  myself,  have  escaped,  probably  owing  to  the  abun- 
dance and  the  goodness  of  our  cigars.  I  long  for  the 
campaign  to  open  ;  I  shall  then  have  something  to  write 
about.' 

The  Burmese  War  was  eventually  satisfactorily  con- 
cluded by  Sir  Archibald  Campbell,  without  the  personal 
intervention  of  the  Commander-in-Chief. 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

^  Calcutta,  20^A  September,  1824. 

'  Sir  Edward  Paget  has  been  pleased  to  say  that  I  was 
the  only  person  in  India  from  whom  he  had  derived 
comfort  and  support,  and  to  whom  he  could  unbosom 
himself  freely,  openly,  and  without  reserve.  He  has  been 
pleased  to  honour  me  with  his  friendship  and  fullest  con- 
fidence ;  and  I  feel  more  proud  than  I  can  express  at 
having  obtained  the  esteem  of  this  best  model  of  what  a 
man  should  be ! 

'  The  longer  I  stay  in  India,  the  more  I  am  convinced 
of  the  correct  truth  of  all  my  former  statements  to  you. 
The  country  hangs  upon  a  thread.  The  slightest  reverse 
would  set  the  whole  in  a  flame ;  and  you  have  not  the 
smallest  hold  upon  any  class  of  inen  in  all  your  vast 
Indian  dominions^  except  that  which  immediately  derives 
from  the  opinion^  or  rather  the  conviction^  that  your  bay- 
onets and  sabres  are  superior  to  theirs.'^   The  Indian  army 

*  A  well-known  merchant  of  Calcutta. 

t  It  is  evident  that  the  great  Indian  mutiny,  had  he  survived  to  hear  of 
it,  would  not  have  surprised  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 


312  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTIXGHAM. 

must  become,  and  that  speedily,  a  King's  army,  the  nmn- 
ber  of  officers  must  be  greatly  increased,  and  the  broken 
spirit  of  both  officers  and  men  regenerated.' 

The  month  of  October  continued  to  give  the  Quarter- 
master-General abundance  of  work  in  preparing  the  ex- 
pedition to  Ava  of  the  Commander-in-Chief,  with  a  force 
of  irresistible  strength,  should  the  prolonged  resistance 
of  the  Burmese  require  it. 

November,  1824,  opened  in  a  melancholy  manner, 
with  the  Mutiny  of  Barrackpore.  There  is  no  space  here 
for  the  discussion  of  that  vexed  question.  The  infatuated 
adherents  of  the  Indian  coaxing  system,  whose  eyes  even 
the  great  crisis  of  1857  has  failed  to  open,  and  who 
would  still  employ  rose-water  to  put  down  open  rebel- 
lions, are  impervious  to  the  arguments  of  reason  and 
experience ;  and  especially  to  the  imperative  necessities 
of  military  discipline.  In  affairs  of  government,  civilians, 
though  subjects,  may  and  must  be  listened  to  and 
reasoned  with ;  but  soldiers  must  be  silent  and  obey,  or 
the  army  becomes  a  mere  rabble,  more  dangerous  to  its 
friends  than  to  its  enemies,  as  was  proved  in  1857. 
Whether  a  Government  be  despotic,  constitutional  or  re- 
publican, does  not  affect  this  rule. 

As  the  dear  friend  of  Sir  Edward  Paget,  and  as  an 
officer  who  ever  considered  obedience  as  the  chief  duty 
of  a  soldier,  it  is  needless  to  say  that  Sir  Samford  Whit- 
tingham  sympathized  fully  with  his  Chief,  who  not  with- 
out great  reluctance,  and  even  anguish  of  mind,  trod  out 
the  dangerous  mutiny  of  Barrackpore  in  the  most  decisive 
manner. 

It  appears  that  Sir  Samford  was  employed  to  send  in  a 
brief  report  of  this  mutiny  and  of  its  suppression,  for  the 
information  of  the  Governor-General's  secretary  ;  at  least 
so  the  Editor  interprets  the  following  copy  (written  in 


SIR  SAMFORD'S   REPORT   OF   THE   MUTINY.  313 

Sir  SamforcVs  hand),  of  the  original,  which  he  wrote  on 
the  occasion ;  and  which  copy  bears  no  address  to  show 
to  whom  it  was  written  : — 

(Private  and  Confidential.) 

^  Barrackpore,  5th  November,  1824. 

'  Dear  Sir, — The  Commander-in-Chief,  being  extremely- 
occupied  at  the  present  moment,  has  requested  me  to 
commilnicate  for  your  information  the  following  detail  of 
a  daring  mutiny  which  broke  out  amongst  the  Sepoy  bat- 
talions at  this  station  on  the  1st  instant. 

'  The  26th,  47th,  and  62nd  Eegiments  of  Bengal  Native 
Infantry  were  under  orders  for  foreign  service,  and  were 
to  march  to  Chittagong  from  this  cantonment  succes- 
sively, with  an  interval  of  two  days  between  the  time  of 
their  respective  departures. 

'  On  the  1st  of  this  month,  it  was  officially  reported  to 
His  Excellency  that  the  47th  Native  Infantry  had  re- 
fused to  march,  and  that  they  were  in  a  state  of  open 
mutiny. 

'  The  Commander-in-Chief  proceeded  immediately  to 
Barrackpore  in  the  hopes  that  his  presence  might  pro- 
duce some  effect  upon  the  mutineers.  But  they  continued 
firm  in  their  determination,  and  it  became  necessary  to 
have  recourse  to  coercive  measures  to  bring  them  to 
reason. 

'Before  twelve  at  night,  the  Eoyals,*  H.M.'s  47th 
Eegiment,  the  Governor-General's  body-guard,  and  a 
battery  of  field  artillery,  had  arrived,  and  were  assembled 
in  the  park  at  Barrackpore. 

'  At  daybreak  two  battalions  N.I. ;  H.M.'s  47th,  and 
the  body-guard  with  its  gallopers,f  were  formed  on  the 

*  H.M.'s  First  Regiment  of  the  line  is  called  the  ^Royals.' 
t  Galloper  guns,  as  they  were  called,  were  formerly  attached  to  all  regi- 
ments of  cavalry  in  India. 


314  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

left  of  the  cantonment.  The  Eoyals,  and  the  battery  of 
field  artillery  drew  up  in  the  rear  of  the  huts  of  the 
mutineers. 

'During  the  night  160  men  of  the  62nd  [Native  In- 
fantry] went  over  to  the  mutineers,  together  with  twenty- 
four  men  of  the  26th  [N.I.]  ;  both  taking  their  colours 
with  them. 

'  The  mutineers  formed  on  the  parade  of  the  47th  N.L, 
in  front  of  their  own  lines. 

'The  Commander-in-Chief,  who  was  with  the  troops 
on  the  left,  had  formed  the  hope  that  the  imposing  atti- 
tude of  so  large  a  force  would  have  been  sufficient  to  over- 
awe the  mutineers,  without  having  recourse  to  extreme 
measures.  But,  being  disappointed  in  that  expectation, 
he  sent  the  Adjutant-General  and  Quartermaster-General 
of  the  [Bengal]  army,  accompanied  by  his  Persian  inter- 
preter, and  the  Colonel  of  the  47th  N.I.  to  intimate  to 
the  mutineers,  that,  unless  they  laid  down  their  arms,  and 
surrendered  at  discretion,  they  would  be  immediately  at- 
tacked. The  Adjutant-General*  ordered  them  to  ground 
their  arms.  They  refused  to  obey,  and  expressed  their 
resolution  to  resist  force  by  force. 

'At  the  signal  of  two  guns  fired  from  the  left,  the 
battery  in  the  rear  of  the  mutineers  opened,  and  the 
Eoyals  advanced  up  the  road  which  led  to  their  right 
flank.  At  the  same  time,  the  whole  line  on  the  left  ad- 
vanced. 

'  In  less  than  iive  minutes  the  mutineers  were  broken, 
and  the  dispersion  was  so  complete  that  not  two  men 
were  to  be  found  together.  They  threw  away  their  arms, 
stripped  themselves  of  their  military  insignia,  and  fled  in 


*  It  was  afterwards  discovered  that  tlie  Adjutant-General  of  the  Bengal 
army  (a  Colonel)  had  received  a  petition  from  the  mutineers  before  he 
came  on  parade,  and  had  put  it  into  his  pocket,  instead  of  giving  it  at 
once  to  the  Commander-in-Chief.  It  contained  a  list  of  their  grievances, 
and  miffhtj  if  listened  to,  have  averted  the  destruction  of  the  mutineers. 


SIE   SAMFORD'S    REPORT   OF   THE   MUTINY.  315 

all  directions.  A  considerable  number  were  killed,  and 
more  taken  prisoners.  Of  these  latter,  numbers  are  con- 
stantly [being  brought]  in. 

'A  court-martial  was  immediately  assembled.  Forty 
of  the  prisoners  were  tried  and  condemned.  Six  were 
executed  yesterday  morning.  The  punishment  of  the 
other  thirty-four  the  Commander-in-Chief  has  been  pleased 
to  commute  into  exile  and  hard  labour  for  life  in  chains. 

'  The  court-martial  is  still  sitting,  and  will  continue  so 
to  do  till  all  the  prisoners  shall  have  been  tried. 

'  These  misguided  men  appear  to  have  had  no  real 
grounds  of  complaint  to  palliate  their  misconduct.  They 
had  stated  that  the  means  of  transport  for  their  effects 
were  not  sufficient ;  and  ten  bullocks  per  company  were 
assigned  [to  them].  They  had  been  told,  they  said,  that 
they  were  to  be  embarked  :  but  the  Commander-in-Chief 
assured  them  he  had  never  thought  of  such  a  thing ;  and 
that  no  Bengal  sepoy  should  ever  be  embarked,  under 
his  command,  except  as  a  volunteer. 

'  It  is  to  be  apprehended  that  much  blame  attaches  to 
the  Native  officers  of  the  battalion ;  and  it  is  feared  that 
a  dislike  to  the  war  against  the  Burmese  had  also  its  in- 
fluence upon  the  sepoy. 

'  The  Commander-in-Chief  is  still  at  Barrackpore,  where 
he  will  probably  remain  till  the  26th  and  62nd  [N.I. 
regiments]  have  broken  ground  for  their  destination. 
'  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  dear  Sir, 

'  Your  most  obedient  servant, 

'SaMFORD   WHITTmGHAM.' 

About  nine  years  later,  the  falsehoods  of  an  anony- 
mous calumniator  in  the  '  Meerut  Observer,'  were  refuted 
in  the  following  letter,  which  is  here  given  in  order  to 
finish  at  once  with  the  affair  of  the  mutiny. 

From  the  '  Meerut  Observer,'  of  Thursday,  18th  April, 
1833  :— 


316  MEMOIR   OP   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  '  Meerutt*  Ohserve7\' 

'  Sir, — On  the  first  report  whicli  Sir  Edward  Paget 
received  of  the  mutiny  at  Barrackpore,  he  proceeded 
tliither  without  a  moment's  delay.  On  his  arrival  he 
found  the  mutineers  in  open  insurrection.  Every  effort 
was  made,  during  that  evening  and  the  ensuing  night,  to 
induce  the  misguided  men  to  return  to  their  duty,  but 
in  vain.  During  the  night,  the  colours  of  two  other 
regiments,  with  detachments  from  each,  joined  the  muti- 
neers. At  daybreak  the  next  morning  they  were  under 
arms,  and  the  force  at  the  disposal  of  Sir  Edward  Paget 
was  drawn  up  within  full  view.  Sir  Edward  then  made 
another  attempt  to  convince  them  of  their  error.  The 
General  commanding  the  division,  the  Adjutant,  and 
Quartermaster-Generals  of  the  army,  the  Persian  inter- 
preter, and  the  Commanding  Officer  of  the  regiment  were 
sent  in  a  body  to  the  mutineers,  and  directed  to  state  to 
them  that,  "  if  they  would  lay  down  their  arms  and  sub- 
mit their  claims  to  the  justice  of  the  Commander-in-Chief, 
they  should  be  immediately  investigated  and  attended  to, 
and  their  past  conduct  forgiven  and  forgotten ;  but  that 
it  was  impossible  for  the  Commander-in-Chief  to  treat 
with  armed  soldiers."  The  deputation  returned  with  the 
report  that  the  men  would  listen  to  nothing ;  and  it  was 
then  only  that  Sir  Edward  ordered  the  signal  gun  to  be 
fired,  and  the  line  to  advance. 

'  The  very  instant  the  line  of  the  mutineers  broke.  Sir 
Edward  ordered  the  firing  to  cease,  and  directed  the 
Quartermaster-General  of  the  King's  troops  to  proceed  at 
speed  to  Colonel  Armstrong,  commanding  the  Eoyals, 
with  orders  that  all  pursuit  should  be  stopped.  The 
Colonel,  and  the  Quartermaster-General  of  the  King's 
troops  rode  forward  to  the  front  of  the  Light  Company  of 
the  47th  and  Eoyals,  and  made  every  exertion  in  their 

*  Meerut,  it  appears,  was  formerly  spelt  Meerutt  by  the  press  of  India. 


SUBSEQUENT   DEFENCE    OF   SIR   EDWARD    PAGET.       317 

power  to  stop  the  firing,  in  which  they  succeeded  in  a 
very  short  time,  and  brought  the  Light  Company  back.* 

'  The  anonymous  writer  in  your  paper  of  yesterday,  in 
what  he  says  of  an  officer  of  high  rank  in  His  Majesty's 
service,  sniping  the  sepoys,  &c.,  is  guilty  of  an  infamous 
falsehood,  and  only  screens  himself  from  the  punishment 
he  deserves,  by  concealing  his  name. 

'  The  name  of  the  author  of  this  answer  to  the  vile 
attack  upon  the  character  of  Sir  Edward  Paget,  contained 
in  the  'Meerutt  Observer'  of  the  11th  April,  is  lodged 
with  the  Editor,  and  will  be  given  on  application. 

'  Meekut,  12th  April,  1833.' 

This  refutation  was  written  by  Sir  Samford  when  in 
command  at  Meerut.  It  remained  without  an  answer, 
and  proves — what  no  one  who  knew  Sir  Edward  Paget, 
and  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  doubted — that  there  was 
no  desire  on  their  parts  to  use  more  severity  than  was 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  occasion.  By  riding  in  front 
of  the  angry  British  soldiers  who  were  firing  at  the  muti- 
neers, Sir  Samford  proved  the  sincerity  of  his  exertions, 
at  the  evident  risk  of  his  life,  as  did  Colonel  Armstrong, 
the  commanding  officer  of  those  soldiers. 

Two  more  extracts  from  his  letters  to  Mr.  Davis  will 
fill  all  the  space  that  can  be  spared  for  the  year  1824  : — 

'  Calcutta^  12th  December. — I  am  very  anxious  to  know 
whether  Lord  William  Bentinck  comes  out  to  this  country 
as  Governor-General  or  not  ?  It  would  certainly  be  a 
pleasant  thing  to  meet  my  old  commander ;  and  I  love 
to  hope  that  he  would  have  no  objection  to  having  me 
again  under  his  orders. 

'  24:th  Deceynher^  1824. — We  have  received  Sir  Archi- 
bald Campbell's  dispatches,  with  the  account  of  a  com- 
plete victory  gained  by  him  over  the  Burmese.      The 

*  Probably,  picked  men  of  the  two  regiments  had  on  this  occasion  been 
formed  into  one  Light  Company. 


318  MEMOm   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

victory  was  rapid  and  decisive  :  5,000  men  were  left  on 
the  field ;  240  pieces  of  cannon  fell  into  our  hands  ;  and 
the  whole  army  of  the  enemy  dispersed  and  fled. 

'  Sir  Alexander  Campbell,  the  Commander-in-Chief  at 
Madras,  is  dead.  His  loss  will  be  greatly  felt.  He  was 
a  most  able  man,  and  a  most  honourable  soldier ;  and  his 
zeal  to  meet  Sir  Edward's  wishes,  in  everything  con- 
cerned with  this  war,  had  been  conspicuous  throughout. 
When  I  saw  him  two  years  ago  at  Madras,  he  was 
healthy  and  strong,  and  really  a  wonderful  man  for  his 
time  of  life,  upwards  of  seventy.  But  the  last  rains  and 
heats  had  tried  the  strongest  constitutions,  and  sent  many 
a  wanderer  to  his  long  home.' 

Seventeen  years  later,  the  writer  of  the  above  words, 
a  greater  wanderer  still,  was  to  close  his  career  at  the 
same  place  and  in  the  same  command  ! 

The  truly  voluminous  correspondence  of  Sir  Samford 
Whittingham  was  for  the  first  four  months  of  1825  full 
of  the  Burmese  war,  in  which  he  had  hoped  at  one  time 
to  have  taken  an  active  part.  But  Sir  Edward  Paget,  as 
we  have  seen,  could  not  spare  the  man  who  had  become 
the  real  though  not  nominal  Chief  of  his  Staff,  as  well  as 
his  confidant,  counsellor,  and  general  secretary.  Colonel 
Patrick  Paget,  Sir  Edward's  surviving  military  son,  was 
as  much  astonished  as  the  Editor  of  this  work,  on  search- 
ing the  contents  of  a  large  and  heavy  box  of  papers  left 
by  Sir  Edward  (containing  apparently  the  whole  of  his 
correspondence  either  in  original  or  in  copies)  to  find 
that  one  third  at  least  of  the  writings  were  either  letters 
or  memoranda  written  by  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  or 
at  least,  in  his  handwriting.  When  the  Adjutant-General 
of  Bengal  and  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  King's  army 
charged  each  other,  pen  in  hand,  with  a  considerable 
amount  of  faults  on  both  sides,  the  task  of  preparing  the 
letter  of  the  Chief  blaming  both,  was  evidently  given  to 
the  Quartermaster-General  of  the  King's  troops.      The 


THE   'ALTER   EGO'    OF   THE   COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.       319 

copy  of  the  letter  found  has  the  appearance  of  being  the 
first  draft  of  the  intended  dispatch,  and  it  is  all  in  Sir 
Samford's  handwriting,  and  was  afterwards  marked  as 
copy.  If  thus  fully  consulted  in  so  delicate  a  matter,  it 
may  easily  be  conceived  how  he  was  entrusted  with  the 
ordinary  special  correspondence  of  an  able  commander, 
who  disliked  writing  (though  he  could  write  so  well)  and 
was  moreover  unable,  from  the  loss  of  his  arm,  to  write 
much.  In  fact  Sir  Samford  became,  without  exaggeration 
his  right  hand,  his  alter  ego,  and  that  aid  which  most 
chiefs  seek  almost  equally  from  their  principal  staff 
officers  was  here  sought  and  found  in  all  important  mat- 
ters from  one  alone. 


Sir  Herbert  Taylor*  to  Sir  S.  Whittingham. 

'  Horse-Guards,  3rd  April,  1825. 

'  My  dear  Sir  Samford, — I  wished  to  have  thanked  you 
for  your  obhging  and  interesting  letter  of  the  18th  July, 
at  the  same  time  that  I  wrote  to  Sir  Edward  Paget,  whose 
letter  dated  in  August  reached  me  a  few  days  after 
your's.  But  I  was  so  hurried  at  the  time,  and  have  been 
since,  by  the  additional  business  produced  by  the  aug- 
mentations, &c.,  that  I  have  been  unable  to  keep  up  my 
general  correspondence  so  regularly  as  at  other  times. 

'  I  showed  your  letter  to  the  Commander-in-Chief,  and 
he  received  great  pleasure  from  the  satisfactory  report 
it  contained  of  the  change  produced  in  our  military 
situation  and  prospects  by  the  ability,  zeal,  and  intelli- 
gence of  your  excellent  Commander-in-Chief.  ,.  .  .  The 
general  impression,  is  that  you  will  not  proceed  much 
beyond  the  frontier  on  the  eastern  side ;  and  that  the 
operations  against  the  Burmese  will  be  confined  to  those 
of  Sir  Archibald  Campbell's  force,  and  possibly  to  an 
attack  upon  Arracan.     I  sincerely  hope  that  these  may 

*  Then  Military  Secretary  to  tlie  Duke  of  York. 


320  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

suffice  to  bring  to  a  speedy  termination  this  unsatisfactory 
and  unprofitable  war ;  so  destructive  to  our  best  men, 
from  the  effects  of  chmate  and  the  deficiency  of  whole- 
some food.  I  know  not  what  the  feeling  may  be  in 
India  ;  but  here  the  war  is  most  unpopular,  and  all  are 
grumbling. 

******* 

'  Our  friend  Torrens  is  in  better  health  than  he  had 
been  some  time  ago,  though  still  not  well  and  very  thin. 
'  Beheve  me  to  be  ever,  my  dear  Sir  Samford, 

'  Most  sincerely  yours, 

'  H.  Taylor.' 

On  the  20th  June  Sir  Samford  records  the  illness  of 
Sir  Edward  Paget,  and  that,  though  less  severe,  of  Lord 
Amherst.  On  the  22nd  June  he  writes  : — '  Sir  Edward 
Paget's  health  still  continues,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  in  a  very 
alarming  state.  But  pray  keep  this  to  yourself,  lest  it 
should  get  to  the  ear  of  Lady  Harriet.  I  am  most  anxious 
to  get  him  on  board  ship  as  quickly  as  possible.' 

'  2ith  June, — In  a  few  days  I  am  going  on  the  river 
with  Sir  Edward  Paget.  I  hope  it  may  prove  beneficial 
to  his  health.  I  am  very  anxious  about  him  :  for  I  think 
I  never  saw  a  man  so  completely  shaken  by  climate. 

'  Sir  Edward  wall  not  delay  his  departure  a  single  un- 
necessary day  after  the  arrival  of  Lord  Combermere. 
Lord  Combermere  will  not  find  India  a  bed  of  roses. 
To  suffer  as  Sir  Edward  has  done,  however,  he  must 
possess  the  same  exquisite  sensibility,  and  the  same  ex- 
treme, anxious  desire  to  do  his  duty.' 

In  a  letter  dated  Calcutta,  31st  July  1825,  consisting  of 
thirteen  pages  of  foolscap  paper,  Sir  Samford  gives  Mr. 
Davis  a  summary  of  all  the  improvements  introduced, 
and  of  the  benefits  conferred  by  Sir  Edward  Paget  during 
his  command,  of  which  only  a  few  sentences  can  be  here 
quoted  : — 


ADVICE  FOLLOWED  AFTER  FORTY  YEARS.      321 

'  I  do  not,  however,  by  any  means  assert  that  the 
Bengal  army  is  what  it  should  be.  The  moral  of  the 
army  is  deeply  affected,  and  a  general  spirit  of  insubor- 
dination pervades  the  whole.  The  want  of  a  sufficient 
number  of  European  officers  with  the  battalions  is  uni- 
versally felt ;  and  the  dependence  of  the  sepoy  upon  his 
commanding  officer  has  been  destroyed,  by  making, 
during  the  whole  of  the  late  administration,  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Commander-in-Chief,  the  only  source  of 
either  reward  or  punishment. 

'  The  mistaken  lenity  of  Lord  Hastings's  administra- 
tion has  engendered  a  spirit  of  reasoning,  and  a  fervour 
of  writing  throughout  the  whole  mass ;  and  this  spirit  is 
too  much  fomented  by  the  system  of  promotion  by  seni- 
ority, whilst  it  gives  tlie  officers  mistaken  notions  of  their 
own  independence,  shuts  the  door  to  the  exertions  of 
genius,  and  makes  a  good  constitution  and  a  long  life  the 
only  objects  of  ambition. 

'  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  these  and  other  evils  have 
been  remedied.  They  are  of  too  serious  a  nature  to  be 
cured  by  anything  short  of  making  the  Indian  army  a 
King's  army,  and  the  Indian  Government  a  King's  go- 
vernment. Bat  I  do  assert,  and  I  am  borne  out  by  the 
facts,  that  the  present  Commander-in-Chief,  supported 
by  the  Government,  has  done  more  for  the  tranquillity 
and  security  of  India  during  this  year  of  his  administra- 
tion, than  has  ever  been  done  with  the  same  means 
in  the  same  given  space  of  time.  And  I  am  bold  to 
say  that  no  man  could,  under  existing  circumstances, 
have  effected  more  important  changes  in  our  military 
state,  and  in  that  of  the  country  at  large  than  he  has 
done.' 

It  required  the  Indian  mutiny  of  1857  to  convince 
our  statesmen  of  the  necessity  of  those  reforms  and  al- 
terations which,  thirty-two  years  previously.  Sir  Edward 
Paget  and  Sir  Samford  Whittingham   had  deemed   in- 

Y 


322  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

dispensable  to  the  security  and  good  government  of  our 
Indian  empire. 

On  the  1st  of  August,  1825,  Sir  Samford  expresses  his 
indignation  to  Mr.  Davis  at  the  news  from  England  of  the 
abuse  then  directed  at  the  conduct  of  Sir  Edward  Paget, 
whose  plain  speaking  and  writing  had  deeply  offended  the 
great  Company  in  Leadenhall  Street,  whilst  the  nation 
was  disgusted  with  the  Governor-General  on  account  of 
the  Burmese  war.  Sir  Samford' s  letter  in  defence  of 
his  friend  resembles  a  small  pamphlet.*  Even  up  to  this 
date  he  writes :  '  Lord  Amherst  and  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  have  ever  been  upon  the  best  and  most  friendly 
terms ; '  and  he  mentions  the  unanimity  of  the  Council  of 
Lidia  as  quite  extraordinary. 

On  the  14th  September,  after  long  details  of  the  progress 
of  the  Burmese  war,  he  writes  :  '  The  Rajah  of  Bhurtpore^ 
the  Eajah  of  Alwar,  and  the  Eanee  of  Jeypore  have  all 
disputes  with  this  Government,  which  I  think  will  only  be 
decided  by  the  sword.     The  sooner  we  begin  the  better.' 

'  Calcutta,  7th  October,  1825. — On  the  3rd  of  this 
month  we  received  the  long-expected  brevet,  having  come 
out  it  appears  on  the  27th  May,  the  day  you  had  men- 
tioned in  your  letters  of  the  12th  and  13th  May.f  The 
same  day  arrived  Lord  Combermere,  our  new  Com- 
mander-in-Chief. 

'  Yesterday  Sir  Edward  Paget  sent  in  his  resignation, 
and  to-day  Lord  Combermere  will  be  sworn  into  his  new 
command.' 

'23rd  October. — I  have  written  the  inclosed  to  our 
dear  friend '  [Sir  William  Knighton],  '  on  the  subject  of 
his  nephew,  Mr.   Seymour. J      I  assure  you  I  shall  be 


*  This  letter  Mr.  Davis  sent  to  Lord  Liverpool,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter. 

t  This  brevet  made  Sir  Samford  at  last  a  general  officer  in  the  British 
service. 

X  Captain  James  Seymour,  88th  Regiment,  son  to  the  late  and  brother  to 
the  present  Admiral  Sir  Michael  Seymour.     Sir  Samford  had  promised  to 


FIRST   IMPRESSIONS   OF   LORD    COMBERMERE.  323 

delighted  to  have  this  opportunity  of  manifesting  to  a 
person  I  so  much  esteem  my  grateful  feelings  for  all 
his  kindness.  I  do  not  enter  more  into  this  subject, 
from  having  fully  done  so  in  the  inclosed  letter. 

'  What  I  have  seen  of  Lord  Combermere  I  hke  much. 
He  is  open  and  plain  in  his  communications,  and  has 
exerted  himself  in  my  favour  as  far  as  in  him  lay.  I 
have  no  doubt  we  shall  soon  become  well  acquainted.* 


'  Sir  Edward  Paget  has  amongst  his  other  most  excel- 
lent qualities,  that  of  being  an  able,  a  first-rate  nego- 
tiator. Of  all  men  I  have  seen,  he  is  the  best  qualified 
to  gain  an  ascendancy  over  others.  His  manners  are 
reserved,  mild,  and  unassuming ;  and  he  never  increases 
opposition  by  offending  self-love.  His  temper  is  natu- 
rally violent,  but  he  has  learnt  to  correct  it,  without  in  the 
least  diminishing  that  firmness  of  mind  which  never  aban- 
dons him  for  a  moment.  His  judgment  is  as  clear  as 
it  is  solid,  and  he  is  a  beautifully  perspicuous  military 
writer.  When  he  came  down  to  Calcutta  from  the  Upper 
Provinces,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Burmese  War,  his 
influence  in  Council  was  absolutely  null ;  and  he  was  so 
hard  pressed  as  to  be  obliged  to  ask  whether  he  or  Colonel 
Casement  commanded  the  army.  The  opinions  of  every 
fit  tie  civilian,  nay  even  of  Captains  in  the  army,  were  put 
in  opposition  to  his  ;  and  the  Commander-in-Chief  was  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  a  nonentity. 

'  For  many  months  past,  the  whole  Council  have  been 
with  him  ;  and  whatever  he  has  proposed  has  been  will- 
ingly and  cheerfully  acceded  to. 


make  him  his  aide-de-camp  whenever  he  should  obtain  a  command  as  a 
General. 

*  Notwithstanding  this  happy  commencement,  directly  after  the  depar- 
ture of  Sir  Edward  Paget,  some  persons  who  had  long  been  jealous  of  Sir 
Saraford's  influence,  succeeded /or  a  brief  pei'iod,  in  prejudicing  against  him 
the  new  Commander-in-Chief. 

Y  2 


324  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  Sir  Edward  Paget  possesses  the  singular  advantage 
which  pubKc  men  always  derive  from  rectitude  of  in- 
tention. In  his  mind  there  are  no  arrieres  pensees.  His 
object  is  always  what  it  appears  to  be ;  and  the  measures 
he  employs,  simple,  clear,  and  honest.  He  is,  in  every 
sense  of  the  expression,  an  English  gentleman.' 

Before  Sir  Edward  left  India,  he  presented  Sir  Samford 
with  a  beautiful  roan-coloured  Cape  horse,  called  '  the 
Admiral,'  of  great  value ;  and  also  with  a  huge  and  mag- 
nificent silver  hookah,  with  two  gold  mouthpieces,  and 
other  presents.  And  Sir  Samford  gave  to  Sir  Edward  the 
beautiful  mosaic  box  which  he  had  received  from  the 
King  of  Spain. 

His  best  friend  was  now  about  to  leave  him,  having 
taken  his  passage  in  the  'Madras^'  to  sail  for  England, 
leaving  Lord  Combermere  to  reap  the  fruit  of  his  pre- 
decessor's labours.* 

'  Calcutta^  Sth  November^  1825. — I  accompanied  Sir 
Edward  Paget  to  Diamond  Harbour,  where  I  had  post- 
horses  waiting  for  me,  and  returned  to  Calcutta,  on  the 
3rd.  The  '''Madras  "  got  to  sea  on  the  5th.  God  send  her 
a  speedy  and  prosperous  passage.  On  the  11th  I  shall 
leave  this  for  Agra,  Ddk^  which  is  our  mode  of  posting. 
You  travel  in  a  palanquin,  and  are  carried  by  four  men, 
who  are  relieved  at  short  stages.  I  shall  reach  Agra 
in  about  ten  days.  My  horses  went  off  on  the  5th.  My 
heavy  baggage  goes  by  water.  Lord  Combermere  leaves 
this  on  the  19th.  Every  day  from  the  11th  to  the  end  of 
this  month  will  be  filled  up  by  different  officers  of  the 
Staff  proceeding  Dak  to  the  same  destination.  The  army 
will  be  assembled  on  the  1st  December.     Eighteen  bat- 

*  It  is  said  that  all  the  preparations  for  taking  Bhiirtpore  having  been 
made  before  Lord  Comberraere's  arrival,  Sir  Edward  was  recommended, 
as  senior  officer,  not  to  resign  till  after  the  fall  of  the  fortress  !  But  he 
deemed  it  his  duty  to  resign  at  once,  and  did  so. 


LETTER  TO   SIR   EDWARD    PAGET.  325 

talions,  forty  squadrons,  a  hundred  and  ten  pieces  of 
heavy  artillery,  two  regiments  of  horse-artillery,  besides 
an  ample  field  train.' 

He  himself,  till  a  vacancy  on  the  Staff  of  Generals 
took  place,  retained,  by  leave  from  the  Horse-Guards, 
his  post  as  Quartermaster-General  of  the  Eoyal  army ; 
but  Bengal  custom  gave  the  Quartermaster-General  of  the 
local  army  the  general  authority,  though  a  very  junior 
officer ;  and  therefore  it  was  with  a  heavy  heart,  having 
no  scope  for  his  abilities,  that  he  hastened  to  swell  the 
Staff  of  the  new  Commander-in-Chief  He  had  the  more 
time  to  note  and  describe  the  siege,  and  send  home  the 
accounts  of  a  conquest,  to  the  mighty  preparations  for 
which,  as  will  be  proved  hereafter,  he  had  himself  greatly 
contributed,  by  his  ceaseless  labours,  whilst  under  the 
command  of  Sir  Edward  Paget.  The  whole  of  the  siege 
is  described  in  his  journal-hke  letters,  from  the  beginning 
of  December  1825  to  the  6th  February  1826  ;  but  we 
will  conclude  this  chapter  with  part  of  another  letter  to 
his  great  and  faithful  friend  : — 

Sir  Sam  ford  Wliittingham  to  the  Eon.  Sir  Edward 
Paget. 

(Extract.)* 

*  Agka,  24^7t  November,  1825. 

'My  dear  General, — I  left  Calcutta  on  the  11th,  at 
four  p.m.,  and  arrived  here  yesterday  morning  at  eight 
a.m.,  nothing  fatigued  with  the  journey,  thanks  to  your 
tonjon,  which  is  certainly  a  great  relief  from  the  recum- 
bent position  of  the  palanquin. 

'  It  is  calculated  that  we  shall  commence  our  advance 

*  The  original  letter  of  successive  dates  fills  twelve  sheets  of  foolscap  ! 
The  military  news  and  opinions  it  contains,  regarding  the  siege  of  Bhurtpore, 
would  too  much  lengthen  this  work  by  its  insertion. 


326  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

about  the  15th  December.  Our  battery  train  is  superb; 
144  pieces  of  heavy  ordnance.  They  are  advancing  at 
present  upon  one  road,  and  the  length  of  the  column 
extends  to  fourteen  miles  ! 

'To  your  unparalleled  efforts  in  the  good  cause  we 
are  indebted  for  all  the  noble  means  we  possess  of  bring- 
ing this  contest  to  a  speedy  and  happy  issue.  I  only 
lament  that  another  should  pluck  those  laurels  which  so 
justly  and  truly  belong  to  you 

'  1st  December. — Lord  Combermere  arrived  this  morn- 
ing at  five.  Hostilities  recommenced  with  the  Burmese 
on  the  10th  of  November.  The  two  crores  of  rupees 
were  insisted  upon,  and  refused.  Lord  Combermere  has 
entered  his  protest  against  continuing  a  war  so  fraught 
with  difficulties  and  sacrifices  of  every  kind  upon  any 
such  ground.  It  is  remarkable  that  both  Commanders- 
in-Chief  should  have  exactly  coincided  in  their  views  of 
the  Burmese  War.  A  few  days  will,  I  hope,  set  us  down 
before  Bhurtpore.'  [After  narrating  that  Sir  Charles 
Metcalfe,  acting  Governor-General,  was  coming  to  Muttra 
immediately,  he  adds :]  '  Lord  Combermere  proceeds 
thither  to-morrow.' 

The  long  letter,  from  which  the  above  is  extracted,  also 
acquainted  Sir  Edward  Paget  with  an  incident  which  im- 
plied great  coldness  on  the  part  of  Lord  Combermere  to 
Sir  Samford  Whittingham ;  the  result  of  prejudices  in- 
stilled into  him  by  those  officers  who  were  jealous,  (and 
naturally  so)  of  the  great  confidence  which  Sir  Edward 
had  always  displayed  in  Sir  Samford,  and  of  the  latter's 
consequent  power  and  influence.  Lord  Combermere 
could  not  then  know  how  spontaneously  Sir  Edward 
Paget  had  acted,  in  making  the  King's  Quartermaster- 
General  his  principal  Stafi*  officer  ;  and  that  it  in  no  way 
resulted  from  any  ambitious  strivings  on  the  part  of  the 
subordinate.     His  Lordship  indeed,  probably,  only  de- 


LORD   COMBERMERE'S   COLDNESS   TO   SIR   SAMFORD.    327 

sired  to  make  Sir  Samford  understand,  that  his  excep- 
tional position  was  at  an  end,  and  that  in  future  he  must 
restrict  himself  to  the  duties  of  the  King's  Quartermaster- 
General.  At  all  events  that  coldness  was  destined,  ere 
long,  to  be  exchanged  for  a  friendly  confidence,  both  in 
private  and  public  matters  ;  as  will  hereafter  be  proved  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  reader. 


328  MEMOIR  OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 


CHAPTEE  XV. 

*  1826. 

SIE  SAMFOED  RECEIVES  A  CONTTJSION  AT  THE  SIEGE  OF  BHTJRTPORE — 
HIS  NARROW  ESCAPE — EXTRAORDINARY  VALOFR  OF  LIEUT.  CAINE — DE- 
FENCE OF  SIR  EDWARD  PAGET — AN  INVALUABLE  INTELLECT — A  SATIS- 
FACTORY LETTER — A  MEERUT  SCANDAL — A  MEERUT  DUEL— COOLNESS 
UNDER  FIRE  CONSIDERED  CRIMINAL — EFFECTS  OF  A  MASTERLY  LETTER — 
SLOW  POSTS  CAUSED  LUDICROUS  RESULTS — ILL  HEALTH  OF  THE  DUKE 
OF  YORK — SIR  HERBERT  TAYLOR'S  EULOGISTIC  LETTER — DEFECTIVE 
MILITARY  ORGANIZATION  IN  INDIA — INCREASE  OF  EUROPEAN  FORCE 
NECESSARY  FROM  THE  INSUBORDINATION  OF  NATIVE  SOLDIERS — SIR 
EDWARD  PAGET's  GENEROUS  LETTER  TO  EARL  BATHURST — HOW  THE 
MEANS   WERE   CREATED  FOR   TAKING   BHURTPORE. 

Eestricted  space  will  not  permit  much  quotation  from 
the  long  journal-hke  letters  which,  with  accurate  plans, 
Sir  Samford  Whittingham  transmitted  to  his  brother-in- 
law  and  Sir  Herbert  Taylor,  respecting  the  siege  of 
Bhurtpore.  Indeed  the  task  would  be  superfluous,  in 
consequence  of  the  publication  of  Lord  Combermere's 
Memoirs.     A  few  extracts  will  suffice  : — 

'  \Mi  January^  1826. — In  going  to  the  batteries  this 
mormng,  a  spent  ball  from  a  matchlock  struck  the  calf 
of  my  leg ;  and  obliged  me  to  come  home  in  a  doolee* 
I  should  not  have  mentioned  this  trifling  circumstance, 
but  as  it  has  made  me  very  lame,  it  will  probably 
confine   me   to   my   tent   for  a  day  or   two,   and   thus 

*  A.  fragment  of  a  Calcutta  newspaper  of  1826,  concludes  a  paragraph 
about  Bhurtpore  thus :  *  A  letter  of  the  15th,  we  are  sorry  to  observe, 
states  that  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  had  been  wounded  in  the  leg  by  a 
matchlock  ball,  but  the  wound  was  not  of  a  serious  nature.' 


A   NARROW   ESCAPE.  329 

prevent  my  being  present  at  what  may  take  place  for 
that  time. 

'I  must,  however,  mention  a  providential  escape  I 
had  on  my  return.  A  little  to  the  right  of  the  old 
mortar  battery,  the  doolee,  in  which  four  men  were 
carrying  me,  was  stopped  for  a  moment,  by  a  Major 
Hunter,  of  the  Bengal  Infantry,  a  friend  of  mine,  to  en- 
quire how  I  was.  A  servant  who  followed  him  stopped 
just  before  my  doolee,  and  whilst  Hunter  was  speaking 
to  me,  a  cannon  ball  took  off  the  servant's  head,  exactly 
where  the  doolee  would  have  been  had  not  Hunter  ar- 
rested my  progress  a  moment  before. 

'  Ibth  January. — My  leg  is  better  but  still  very  painful, 
particularly  when  I  attempt  to  move.  It  shall  not,  how- 
ever, prevent  my  doing  my  duty  to-morrow  to  the  best  of 
my  ability.' 

On  the  18th  January,  he  records  the  final  springing  of 
the  great  mine,  and  the  assault  and  capture  of  Bhurtpore. 
One  of  the  officers  who  most  distinguished  himself  at  this 
siege,  Lieutenant  Caine  of  the  14th  regiment,  was  after- 
wards selected  by  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  for  his  own 
aide-de-camp.  Already  distinguished  in  previous  Indian 
wars,  he  on  this  occasion  eclipsed  his  former  feats  of 
valour.  Leaping  across  a  ditch,  where  his  British  soldiers 
were  unable  at  once  to  follow,  he  found  himself  opposed 
single-handed  to  three  of  the -enemy.  Of  these  he  de- 
stroyed two  with  his  double-barrelled  pistol,  then  closing 
with  the  third,  and  finding  that  his  sword  could  make  no 
impression  on  his  armour,  he  hurled  him  by  main  force 
over  the  rampart  into  the  ditch !  Lieutenant  Caine  was 
also  the  first  officer  up  at  the  taking  of  the  Khumbeer 
Gate,  which  was  carried  by  him  with  about  thirty  men  of 
the  14th.* 

*  Vide  Appendix  C  for  Sir  Samford  Whittingham's  official  letter  to 
Lord  Combermere^  on  tlie  services  of  Lieutenant  Caine. 


330  MEMOIR  OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 


To  his  Brother-in-law, 

*  Head  Quakteks,  Camp  before  Bhuetpore, 

<Q,th  February,  1^2^. 

'  Yesterday  evening  the  young  Eajah  was  installed  in 
due  form  ;  and  this  morning  the  principal  bastions  and 
curtains  of  the  fortress  were  blown  up.  It  would  perhaps 
have  been  more  civil  to  have  sprung  the  mines  first,  and 
have  installed  His  Highness  afterwards. 

'  I  am  daily  persecuted  with  an  access  of  fever,  which 
all  Dr.  Burke's  skill  cannot  get  rid  of;  and  which  he 
attributes  to  too  much  exertion  before  the  leg  was  well. 
Change  of  air  will  be  the  best  remedy,  and  at  the  close 
of  the  campaign,  I  mean  to  go  to  the  hills.  Don't  be 
uneasy  on  my  account.  I  shall  be  quite  well  agahi 
very  shortly.' 

In  a  letter  dated  Meerut,  28th  March,  1826,  and  ad- 
dressed to  Lieutenant-General  Sir  Herbert  Taylor,  Ad- 
jutant-General at  the  Horse-Guards,  he  enters  into  a  long 
and  eloquent  defence  of  Sir  Edward  Paget,  against  the 
accusations  of  Lord  Amherst,  on  which  it  is  here  need- 
less to  enter  further  than  to  say  that  it  was  considered 
equally  clear  and  convincing  by  those  to  whom  it  was 
addressed. 

In  the  course  of  the  spring  Sir  Samford  must  have  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  Sir  Edward  Paget,  dated  St.  Helena, 
15th  January,  1826,  full  of  the  most  affectionate  ex- 
pressions of  regard. 

The  following  two  letters  probably  reached  India  in 
the  course  of  June.  The  second,  forwarded  to  him  by 
his  brother-in-law,  referred  to  Sir  Samford's  defence  of 
the  Bengal  Government  • — 


LETTER   OF   SIR   WILLIAM    KNIGHTON,  331 


Sir  William  Knighton  to  Si?'  Sam  ford  Whittingham. 

'  London,  IQth  January ^  1826.* 

'  My  dear  Friend, — This  will  be  put  into  your  hands  by 
Captain  James  Seymour,  the  second  son  of  Sir  Michael 
Seymour,  and  I  can  safely  recommend  him  to  you,  not 
only  for  his  own  worth,  but  for  the  affection  you  bear 
towards  me.  The  King  takes  a  great  interest  in  Sir 
Michael  Seymour's  family,  who  is  the  Captain  of  His 
Majesty's  own  yacht.  I  mention  all  this  to  you,  to  show 
that  this  young  gentleman  is  not  pressed  upon  you  as 
an  aide-de-camp,  w^ithout  proportionate  feelings  and  mo- 
tives ! 

'  I  have  read  all  your  different  accounts,  military  and 
otherwise.  Nothing  can  be  more  admirable,  or  more 
like  your  own  invaluable  intellect.  That  the  Almighty 
may  prosper  you  is  the  sincere  prayer  of 

'  Your  affectionate  and  sincere  friend, 

'  W.  Knighton.' 

The  Earl  of  Liverpool  to  Mr.  R.  H.  Davis. 

'  Fife  House,  \st  February,  1826. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — I  return  you,  with  many  thanks.  Sir 
Samford  Whittingham's  letter.  I  should  not  have  kept 
it  so  long,  but  I  thought  it  so  satisfactory  in  all  respects 
that  I  was  anxious  to  communicate  it  to  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  Mr.  Canning,  and  Mr.  Wynne. 

'  Believe  me  to  be  very  sincerely  yours, 

'  Liverpool.' 

Lord  Liverpool  doubtless  alludes  to  the  voluminous 
letter  Sir  Samford  wrote  to  Mr.  Davis  on  the  1st 
August,  1825. 

*  This  letter  was  written  two  or  three  months  before  Sir  William  could 
have  received  the  promise  mentioned  in  last  chapter. 


332  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

In  the  course  of  this  summer,  Mr.  William  Osborne 
was  again  staying  as  a  guest  with  Sir  Samford  Whitting- 
ham  at  Meerut.  He  was  at  that  time  a  Lieutenant  in 
the  10th  Hussars  ;  and  it  would  appear  that  his  regiment 
must  then  have  been  stationed  somewhere  in  Bengal. 
Young  as  he  was,  he  and  Sir  Samford  were  already 
friends,  and  in  spite  of  the  wildness  of  his  youthful 
spirits,  his  cleverness  and  amiability  made  him  very 
generally  a  favourite  everywhere.  The  General  was  a 
man  so  little  given  to  gossip  and  small  talk,  that  the 
Editor  cannot  resist  inserting  the  following  letter  on  a 
youthful  escapade^  which  gives  a  graphic  specimen  of 
scenes  of  frequent  occurrence,  formerly  at  least,  in  Indian 
society : — 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham  to  the  Honourable  Sir  Edward 

Paget. 

^Meektjt,  2Qth  June,  1826. 

'  My  very  dear  General, — Meerut  has  been  full  of  his- 
tories and  scandals  for  the  last  week.  Captain  E.  chose 
to  take  offence  at  a  trifling  circumstance  which  took  place 
at  Mrs.  M'Combe's,  and  serious  consequences  have  ensued. 
After  dining  as  usual  at  4  p.m.,  we  took  our  ride  on  the 
course.  On  our  returning  to  M'Combe's*  to  pass  the 
evening,  we  remained  smoking  our  cigars  on  the  plat- 
form before  the  door ;  and  the  ladies,  Mrs.  M'Combe, 

Mrs.  P ,  Mrs.  C ,  and  Mrs.  E went  into  Mrs. 

M'Combe's  verandah  dressing-room  to  arrange  their  hair. 
Osborne  and  Finucanef  passed  by  on  horseback.  The 
mat-curtain  blew  up  a  little  on  one  side  ;  and  they  cer- 
tainly did  commit  the  heinous  sin  of  looking  upon  the 
fair  ladies  arranging  their  hair,  but  separated  from  them 
by  an  exterior  railing,  and  certainly  without  the  least  idea 
of  giving  offence.     For  they  came  running  into  the  party 

*  Brigadier,  commanding  the  station. 

t  Finiicane  was  a  Captain  of  the  14th  Regiment. 


A   MEERUT   SCANDAL   AND    DUEL.  333 

— which  the  ladies  immediately  joined — and  said  laugh- 
inor :'  "  You  must  take  care  in  future  to  fasten  the  curtains 
of  your  dressing-rooms,  and  not  put  temptation  into  the 
way  of  the  curious."  All  the  ladies  laughed — called 
them  impudent  fellows ; — and  I  declare  I  had  not  the 
slightest  conception  that  any  offence  had  been  given. 
'  On  our  entering  the  drawing-room,  however,  Captain 

E spoke  to  his  wife  in  the   roughest   and  rudest 

manner — told  Osborne  that  he  had  not  behaved  hke  a 

gentleman — and  led  Mrs.  E out  of  the  room.  Osborne 

called  him  out  the  next  morning ;  and  E ,  by  the 

advice  of  his  friends,   made   to  Osborne   and   to   Mrs." 
M'Combe,  a  most  ample  apology.     But,  in  the  meantime 
Osborne  had  had  the  imprudence  to  write  a  letter  to 

Mrs.  E ,  to  say  that  he  thought  E 's  conduct  so 

constantly  unkind  and  improper  with  regard  to  her,  that 
he  would  strongly  recommend  her  insisting  upon  a  sepa- 
rate maintenance,  and  returning  to  her  father's  house. 
This  foolish  letter  took  away  all  our  vantage  ground,  and 
placed  us  in  a  totally  false  position.  E- called  Os- 
borne out.     Baron  Osten  was  second  to  Osborne,  and 

Captain  Luard  to  E .     They  tossed  up  for  the  first 

fire.     Osborne  won  it,  and  fired  in  the  air.     E in 

very  gross  language,  which  left  no  alternative,  insisted 
upon  going  on.  They  fired  together  ;  Osborne  fired  wide 
of  the  mark.  He  had  determined  on  no  account  to  hit 
E .  E 's  ball  struck  a  round  cigar-case  in  Os- 
borne's pocket,  and,  glancing  off,  passed  obliquely  through 
the  side.  The  seconds  interposed,  and  the  affair  ended. 
The  bone  has  not  been  touched.  He  is  doing  well,  and 
has  promised  m.e  to  leave  Meerut  for  Calcutta,  as  soon 
as  he  is  fit  to  make  the  journey.     All  the  ladies  in  the 

place  have  made  a  point  of  visiting  Mrs.  E ;  and 

peace  having  been  generally  signed,  we  remain  in  statu 
quo  ante  bellum,  "What  great  events  from  trifling  causes 
spring!" 


334  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'IQth  July. — Osborne  left  us  last  night  on  his  way- 
down  to  Calcutta.  Nobody  could  have  behaved  better 
than   he   has  done   since   the  affair   between   him   and 

E .     But  an  illiberal  spirit  of  persecution  has  been 

raised  against  him  ;  and  the  most  ridiculous  and  ma- 
licious reports  have  been  spread  abroad  to  do  him  in- 
jury. One  of  the  attacks  against  him  is  founded  on 
the  hardness  of  the  boy's  heart ;  who  had  so  little  of  the 
fear  of  death  before  his  eyes,  as  to  continue  quietly 
smoking  his  cigar  whilst  he  was  receiving  E 's  hre  ! 

'Lord  Combermere  has  had  an  attack  of  fever,  and 
Colonel  Finch,  Kelly,  Dawkins,  Stapleton,  and  Mundy 
have  all  been  ill  a  second  time.  In  short,  Calcutta  seems 
like  one  great  hospital. 

'Ever,  &c.,  &c., 

'  SaMFORD    WHITTirs^GIIAM.' 


Eeturning  to  his  correspondence  with  Mr.  Davis  : — 

'  Meerut,  2ith  August. — Day  after  day  rolls  on  with- 
out any  arrivals  from  England.  I  cannot  describe  to  you 
the  anxiety  with  which  I  wait  for  the  arrival  of  the  post. 
You  will  have  heard,  ere  this  letter  reaches  you,  of  the 
death  of  Captain  Amherst !  A  fever  of  a  few  days  carried 
him  off.  He  was  universally  beloved.  His  friends  are 
inconsolable.  Lord  Amherst  is,  however,  on  his  passage 
up  the  Ganges ;  and  Lord  Combermere  installed  as  Vice- 
President  and  Deputy  Governor-General.' 

In  this  last  letter,  and  in  a  later  one  of  the  7th  Sep- 
tember, he  is  anxiously  expecting  the  arrival  of  Captain 
Seymour,  who  was  to  be  his  aide-de-camp,  as  soon  as  he 
obtained  a  General's  command,  on  a  vacancy  occurring. 
Captain  Seymour  had  arrived  at  Calcutta,  but  was  des- 
tined never  to  meet  Sir  Sam  ford  Whittingham. 

Sir  Edward  Paget  was  now  Governor  of  the  Eoyal 


SLOW   POSTS   CAUSE   LUDICKOUS   RESULTS.  335 

Military  College  at  Sandhurst,  and  the  following  letter 
must  have  readied  Sir  Samford  near  the  close  of  the 
year  : — 

Sir  Edward  Paget  to  Sir  Samford  Whittinglidm. 

(Extract.) 

'  Sandhukst,  \Qth  June,  1826. 

'You  will,  I  am  sure,  be  thoroughly  happy  to  hear 
that  the  reception  I  have  met  with  in  this  country  has 
been,  as  you  foretold^  most  flattering  and  gratifying.  A 
few  months  before  I  arrived  in  England,  there  had  been 
a  tremendous  hubbub  about  the '  mutiny  at  Barrackpore  ; 
and  I  verily  believe  that  nothing  but  the  firmness  of  the 
Duke  of  Welhngton,  who  took  up  the  cudgels  most 
manfully,  would  have  kept  the  Cabinet  straight.  But 
happily  the  intrigue  was  defeated ;  and  I  have  not 
the  least  doubt,  that  the  masterly  letter  which  you 
wrote  to  Hart  Davis  in  defence  of  the  measures  of  the 
Bengal  Government,  and  which  he  sent  to  Lord  Liver- 
pool, who  communicated  it  to  several  leading  members 
of  the  Cabinet,  had  a  powerful  influence  upon  that  deci- 
sion. Infinite  pains  had  been  taken  to  make  it  appear 
that  Lord  Amherst  and  I  were  two  ;*  but  I  have  com- 
pletely set  this  question  at  rest  by  taking  every  oppor- 
tunity of  defending  him  and  his  measures.' 

[The  slow  posts  in  those  days  often  gave  rise  to  strange 
and  ludicrous  results.  Here  we  find  Sir  Edward  fighting 
for  a  friend,  who  was  now  attacking  him  with  all  his 
strength  and  interest !  But  we  must  give  another  ex- 
tract from  this  monster  letter  of  sixteen  pages.  This 
part  is  written  by  Lady  Harriet  Paget,  w^ho  often  relieved 
her  one-armed  husband  with  the  pen.]  '  I  most  heartily 
and   sincerely  rejoice,  without   one  particle  of  envy — 

*  The  Governor-General  had  abandoned  a  supposed  fallen  cause  mean- 
time ;  a  fact,  the  possibility  of  which  Sir  Edward  seems  never  to  have 
imaj^ined  for  a  moment. 


336  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

which  you  will  give  me  credit  for — at  the  glorious  ter- 
mination of  the  siege  and  assault  of  Bhurtpore  ;  and  have 
but  one  drawback  to  my  satisfaction,  by  knowing  that 
you  have  received  a  hurt  in  the  enterprize,  by  under- 
standing from  you  that  the  deportment  of  my  successor 
towards  yourself  is  most  ungracious,  and  by  observing 
how  careful  he  has  been,  in  his  official  report  of  the 
capture  of  Bhurtpore,  not  to  make  too  much  mention  of 
you.  These  things  are  most  galling  and  distressing  to 
me.' 

[It  is  needless  to  quote  more  of  this  disagreeable 
matter.  Lord  Combermere  had  a  great  respect  and  re- 
gard for  Sir  Edward  Paget ;  and  his  coldness  to  the 
friend  of  the  latter  was  not  destined  to  be  of  long  con- 
tinuance. In  this  letter,  also.  Sir  Edward  describes  his 
having  made  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Davis  and  his 
family,  and  adds  :]  '  The  return  of  Hart  Davis  for  Bristol, 
in  spite  of  his  teeth,  is  a  most  unprecedented  instance  of 
attachment  and  respect,  and  I  long  for  the  opportunity  of 
congratulating  him.' 

[Mr.  Davis  had  retired  from  the  contest  from  motives 
of  economy,  but  was  re-elected  at  the  expense  of  liis  con- 
stituents. The  letter  continues  :]  '  You  will  grieve  to 
hear  that  the  health  of  the  Duke  of  York  has  sadly 
declined  during  the  last  twelvemonth.  Still,  if  he  can  be 
prevailed  upon  to  take  more  care  of  himself,  much  may 
be  done.  The  King  gets  fonder  daily  of  retirement ;  and 
it  is  a  rare  thing  to  get  a  sight  of  him.  I  have  seen  him 
but  once,  about  a  month  ago ;  and  though  much  'in- 
creased in  bulk,  he  seemed  to  be  enjoying  good  health.' 

From  Sir  Herbert  Taylor^  Military  Secretary. 

^  HoKSE-GuAKDS,  1st  Au^ust,  1826. 

'  My  dear  Sir  Samford, — ^Extraordinary  pressure  of 
business  has  obliged  me  to  delay,  much  longer  than  I 
had  wished  or  intended,  thanking  you  for  your  letters  of 


SIR   HERBERT   TAYLOR'S   EULOGISTIC   LETTER.  337 

the  8th  and  23rd  December,  and  8th  and  16th  January, 
containmg  a  detailed  and  most  interesting  journal  of  the 
proceedings  and  operations  of  Lord  Combermere's  army- 
preparatory  to,  and  during,  the  siege  of  Bhurtpore ;  and 
accompanied  by  sketches  of  the  ground  and  positions  of 
the  troops  and  works.  My  acknowledgment  has,  indeed, 
been  in  part  delayed  by  the  communication  of  these 
valuable  documents  to  our  friend  Sir  Edward  Paget  and 
others,  to  whom  I  felt  that  I  might  afford  the  benefit  and 
satisfaction  of  the  perusal,  after  submitting  them  to  the 
Commander-in-Chief. 

'  H.E.H.  [the  Duke  of  York]  orders  me  to  assure  you 
of  the  interest  wdth  which  he  has  read  these  clear  and 
able  statements  of  the  important  operations  which  they 
describe  ;  and  how  sensible  he  is  of  the  trouble  you  have 
taken  in  making  them,  amidst  the  hurry  and  pressure  of 
your  avocations,  and  the  share  you  took  in  the  active 
duties  arising  from  the  services  in  which  you  were 
engaged.  ...  I  sent  the  plans  to  Sir  Edward  Paget 
and  Mr.  Hart  Davis,  as  you  desired;  and  the  former 
caused  some  beautiful  copies  to  be  made  of  them  at  the 
College. 

'  I  heartily  rejoice  that  you  escaped  so  well,  and  that 
the  contusion  you  received  on  the  13th  from  a  spent  ball 
did  not  prevent  your  being  one  of  the  actors  in  the 
glorious  and  brilliant  scene  of  the  18th  ;  to  have  been 
excluded  from  which  would  have  been  truly  mortifying. 
Although  we  have  to  lament  the  loss  of  some  valuable 
officers  and  men,  and  however  serious  we  must  consider 
the  loss  of  such  men,  it  must  be  admitted  that  this  im- 
portant conquest  has  been  achieved  at  a  much  less  price 
than  might  have  been  expected,  from  the  nature  of  the 
works  and  the  strength  and  character  of  its  garrison. 
And  this  advantage  is  due  not  only  to  the  vigour  and 
ability  of  the  operations,  but,  as  you  justly  observe,  also 

z 


338  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

to  the  foresiglit  and  previous  arrangements  of  Sir  Edward 
Paget.* 

'  Your  letter  of  the  27th  January,  which  reached  me 
shortly  after  the  former,  fully  confirms  your  anticipations 
of  the  result  of  the  blow  struck  at  Bhurtpore ;  and  I  trust 
that  its  impression  will  be  lasting;  at  least,  that  it  will 
prevent  any  combination  of  the  native  princes,  and  discou- 
rage all  attempt  to  disturb  our  imperfect  administration  of 
India.  I  say  imperfect,  with  reference  to  many  measures 
of  the  Company ;  and  more  especially  its  military  system, 
so  palpably  defective,  yet  so  obstinately  persisted  in.  Yet 
they  cannot  plead  ignorance :  for  means  are  taken  to 
apprize  them  of  all  that  reaches  us  on  this  subject ;  and 
Sir  Edward  Paget  has  candidly  stated  to  the  Chair,t  the 
opinions  which  you  know  him  to  hold.  Of  the  defective 
organization  of  the  commissariat,  and  of  the  hospital  de- 
partment, you  have  stated  ample  proof. 

'  The  courts-martial  on  deserters  to  the  enemy  have 
evinced  the  spirit  and  feehng  of  the  Company's  officers. 
The  inefficiency  of  their  regimental  system  and  arrange- 
ments is  placed  beyond  doubt  by  every  return ;  and  the 
consequences  of  this  evil  are  apparent  in  the  comparative 
inferiority  of  the  native  troops,  and  their  misconduct  on 
various  occasions,  especially  in  the  Burmese  war.  Never- 
theless all  this  is  suffered  to  continue ;  all  is  sacrificed  to 
the  anxiety  to  procure  patronage.  And  the  security  of 
that  overgrown  empire  is  risked  from  an  obstinate  ad- 
herence to  errors  and  prejudices. 

'  It  is  obvious  that  the  present  extent  of  the  Company's 
territory,  the  increase  of  its  native  military  force,  and 
above  all  the  spirit  of  insubordination  which  has  been 
manifested  by  portions  of  it,  require  an  amalgamation  of 
European  forces.  Nevertheless  this  is  strenuously  resisted. 

*  It  will  shortly  be  seen  what  Sir  Edward  himself  thought  on  this 
matter. 

t  Chairman  of  the  Directors  of  the  East  India  Company. 


GENEROSITY   OF   SIR   EDWARD    PAGET.  339 

And  the  opposition  of  the  Court  of  Directors  is  encouraged 
by  some  of  its  officers  of  distinguished  reputation,  and 
acknowledged  talent  and  experience  :  who  must,  there- 
fore, be  supposed  to  suffer  selfish  views  and  prejudices  to 

overpower  their  better  judgment 

'  I  am  happy  to  acquaint  you  that  the  Duke  of  York's 
health  is  essentially  improved,  and  I  trust  that  with 
proper  care  H.E.H.  will  soon  recover  from  every  effect 
of  his  serious  indisposition ;  great  weakness  and  want  of 
appetite  being  now  the  chief  evils.  Torrens  has  had  the 
gout,  and  been  generally  out  of  health,  though  improved 
of  late ;  but  he  is  grown  miserably  thin.  I  am  very  hard 
worked,  but  neither  sick  nor  sorry ;  and  my  business  goes 
on  satisfactorily.  I  hope  you  approve  of  our  recent 
arrangements  for  giving  rewards  to  old  officers,  and 
efficiency  to  corps  by  the  promotion  and  removal  of 
brevet  officers.  This,  and  the  sale  of  half-pay,  has  reno- 
vated our  ranks. — Believe  me  to  be,  with  the  best  wishes 
for  your  w^elfare  and  success,  my  dear  Sir  Samford, 
'  Most  truly  and  faithfully  yours, 

'  H.  Taylor.' 

^Major-General  Sir  Samford  Whittingliam,  K.C.B.' 

The  following  letter  proves  that  Sir  Edward  Paget  was 
a  friend  in  deeds  as  well  as  in  words.  His  generosity  is 
obvious,  and  needs  no  comment : — 

From  Sir  Edward  Paget  to  Mr.  Davis. 

(Extract.) 
'  Sai^dwell,  Birmingham,  12th  September,  1826. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — ^Your  letter  of  the  6th  instant,  addressed 
to  Sandhurst,  reached  me  at  Lord  Bagot's,  at  Blithfield, 
the  day  before  yesterday ;  and  I  instantly  wrote  to  Lord 
Bathurst  a  letter,  of  which  what  follows  is  an  extract. 
"  Having  heard  that  the  two  Major-Generals,  Eeynell  and 
Nichols,  have  been  recommended  by  Lord  Combermere 
for  the  honourable  distinction  of  Knights  Commanders  of 

z2 


340  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

the  Bath,  I  should  feel  myself  guilty  of  a  very  great 
neglect  of  duty  and  friendship,  if  I  omitted  to  entreat 
your  Lordship  to  give  a  favourable  consideration  to  the 
claims  of  Major-General  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  for 
admission  to  the  same  honour. 

' "  Of  his  services  generally,  your  Lordship  is  no  doubt 
to  the  full  as  well  aware  as  I  am,  and  that  they  have  ob- 
tained for  him  diverse  badges  of  distinction.  But  I  may 
be  permitted  to  observe  with  reference  to  the  fall  of 
Bhurtpore  (at  the  siege  of  which  he  assisted,  and  also  got 
a  hard  knock)  that  neither  your  Lordship  nor  Lord 
Combermere  are  probably  aware,  how  mainly  the  success 
of  that  enterprize  was  due  to  the  indefatigable  zeal  and 
industry  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  in  preparing — / 
may  safely  say^  in  creating  the  means  by  which  it  was 
obtained."  * 

'  I  grieve  that  I  did  not  get  your  letter  some  days 
sooner,  though  if  my  feeble  voice  can  have  any  influence 
in  this  question,  I  trust  it  will  be  heard  in  time  to  have 
its  effect,  as  Lord  Bathurst  (if  in  London)  will  have  got 
my  letter  this  morning.' 

*  In  his  noble  generosity  Sir  Edward  forgets  that  it  was  he  himself  who 
set  to  work  and  encouraged  and  directed  that  indefatigable  King's  officer  in 
his  labours. 


TWO    LETTERS   OF   SAME   DATE.  341 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

1827—1828. 

TWO  LETTERS  OF  SAME  DATE  TEN  THOUSAND  MILES  APART — SIR  EDWARD 
PAGET's    CONGRATTTLATIONS — DEATH    OF    THE   DUKE    OF    YORK — CAPTAIN 

Seymour's  death — copy  of  sir  Edward's  letter  to  lord  bathurst 
reaches  india — aide-de-camp  selected  for  his  merit — lord  com- 
bermere  the  guest  of  sir  samford — the  talk  of  the  garrison 

THE  KING  OF  OUDE — LORD  COMBERMERE's  FRIENDLINESS — THE  REACTION 
OF  A   GENEROUS   MIND — LORD  WILLIAM   BENTINCK'S  APPOINTMENT — SIR 

Edward's  present  of  genuine  hay annahs— thanks  of  the  house 

OF  COMMONS — SIR  EDWARD's  GENEROUS  DISCLAIMER  OF  THANKS— WIL- 
LOUGHBY  cotton's  AFFECTIONATE  LETTER — A  MODEL  OF  WHAT  A  MAN 
OUGHT   TO    BE  — WILLOUGHBY   COTTON'S  OPINION    OF   SIR  EDWARD  PAGET 

THE    PRINCIPAL    PROMOTER    OF    THE   PASSAGE    OF    THE    DOURO — LORD 

COMBERMERE's  KIND  LETTER — LORD  WILLIAM  BENTINCK'S  ARRIVAL — 
HIS  REQUEST — SIR  HERBERT  TAYLOR'S  OPINION  OF  SIR  E.  PAGET — THE 
CONFIDANT  OF  THREE  SUCCESSIVE  KINGS — LORD  COMBERMERE's  PROOF 
OF  CONFIDENCE — SIR  EDWARD's  AFFECTION— SIR  SAMFORD's  GREATEST 
AMBITION. 

Whilst  the  pleasure-bearing  letter  which  closed  the  last 
Chapter  was  on  its  tedious  voyage,  unwonted  gloom  and 
despondency  oppressed  its  future  recipient,  accustomed  as 
he  had  so  long  been  to  the  favour  and  confidence  of  his 
superior  officers. 

On  the  4th  January,  1827,  the  Quartermaster- General 
of  the  King's  army  in  India  was  inditing  letters  full  of 
grief  at  the  reports  which  were  circulated,  that  he  alone 
of  the  Major-Generals  at  the  siege  of  Bhurtpore,  had  not 
been  recommended  for  the  Commandership  of  the  '  Bath ' 
and  was  considered  to  have  been  then  only  a  Colonel  on 
the  Staff,  having  received  no  command  as  yet  as  Major- 
General.  In  the  first  supposition,  however,  he  was  in 
error,  for  Lord  Combermere  had  made  no  recommenda- 


o42  MEMOm   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

tions  for  any  particular  honour  for  anyone.  But  it  was 
true  that  the  Commander-in-Chief  considered  the  Quar- 
termaster-General as  on  the  footing  of  the  other  staff 
officers  who  held  similar  positions,  though  with  inferior 
army  rank. 

That  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  instead  of  being  re- 
stricted, according  to  custom,  as  a  King's  Staff  Officer  to 
very  limited  duties,  had  been  the  right-hand  man,  the 
friend  and  counsellor  of  the  late  Chief,  was  of  course  no 
claim  on  the  new  Commander ;  and,  moreover,  the  latter 
in  the  first  instance  was  probably  not  aware  of  the  facts, 
which  the  just  and  excellent  Sir  Edward  had  impressed 
on  Lord  Bathurst  on  the  12th  September,  1826. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  now,  that  Lord  Combermere 
only  followed  the  then  usual  rule  and  custom  of  India,  to 
subordinate  the  King's  Staff's  influence  to  that  of  Bengal, 
in  spite  of  the  generally  superior  army  rank  of  the  former. 
And  though  highly  offensive  to  the  King's  army,  there 
were  not  wanting  excellent  reasons  for  the  practice,  if 
the  matter  be  impartially  considered.  King's  officers 
newly  arrived  as  strangers  from  England,  and  belonging 
to  a  then  comparatively  uneducated  araiy,  could  not  vie 
in  knowledge  and  experience  with  the  local  army ;  at 
least  as  a  general  rule,  in  spite  of  the  patent  defects  of 
the  Bengal  military  system.  And,  moreover,  the  excep- 
tional claims  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  on  Sir  Edward 
Paget,  were^  not  transferable  to  a  new  Chief  under  the 
circumstances.  But  enough  of  the  temporary  cloud  of 
discontent  alluded  to ;  since  it  passed  away  as  rapidly  as 
a  twelvemonth's  post  (for  it  took  nearly  a  year  to  be 
answered  from  England  in  India)  would  permit. 

On  that  same  4th  January,  1827,  at  the  Eoyal  Mihtary 
College  in  England,  another  letter  was  being  written,  as 
follows : — 


SIR   EDWARD   PAGET'S   CONGRATULATIONS.  343 

From  Sir  Edward  Paget. 

'  Sandhurst,  Uh  January,  1827. 

'  My  dear  Whittingliam, — I  am  roused  from  my  lethargy 
by  reading  in  the  Gazette  this  morning  the  name  of  my 
dear,  good,  but  neglected  friend  amongst  the  batch  of 
K.C.B.'s.  I  congratulate  you  on  this  distinction  with  all 
my  heart  and  soul ;  and  wish  you  all  health,  happiness, 
and  length  of  life  to  enjoy  it  and  all  other  honours  that 
may  fall  to  your  lot In  the  midst  of  these  dis- 
cordances I  find  my  friends  of  the  India  House  have 
been  voting  you  all  chests,  and  cotton  bags  of  thanks,  for 
your  performances  at  Bhurtpore,  and  only  introducing 
my  name  for  the  purpose  of  vilifying  it,  as  the  author  of 
the  wanton  massacre  at  Barrackpore.  This  brings  me,  my 
dear  but  neglected  friend,  to  thank  you,  though  late,  for 
the  curious  and  interesting  account  of  Lord  A.'s  generous 
proceedings  on  the  occasion  of  the  panic,  with  which  he 
was  seized  at  first  hearing  of  his  recall.  .  .   . 

'January  6th. — Alas!  my  dear  Whittingham,  the  ac- 
count has  reached  me  to-day  of  the  death  of  the  poor 
Duke '  [of  York],  '  who  after  several  fainting  fits  in  the 
course  of  the  day,  breathed  his  last  at  nine  o'clock  last 
night.  Every  man,  whose  esteem  is  worth  possessing, 
must  deeply  lament  his  loss — to  me  it  is  irreparable. 
During  the  long  period  of  two-and-thirty  years  I  never 
received  from  him  aught  but  acts  of  kindness,  condescen- 
sion and  consideration.  Father  and  steady  patron  of  this 
College,  his  demise  will  in  all  probability  rouse  its  enemies 
and  the  sticklers  for  economy  to  new  acts  of  hostility. 
But  I  will  not  anticipate  evils ;  but  still  hope  I  may  have 
your  two  dear  lads  under  my  eye.  I  saw  them  about 
three  weeks  ago,  and  nothing  could  appear  in  a  more 
prosperous  condition.  Who  is  to  succeed  the  poor  Duke 
as  Commander-in-Chief,  nobody  appears  to  know.  Some 
talk  of  the  Duke  of  Cambridge ;  some  of  the  Duke  of 


344  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

Wellington ;  others  of  a  Military  Board,  heaven  defend  us 
from  this  last !  .  .  .  God  bless  you,  my  very  dear  Whit- 
tingham,  and  with  the  warmest  regards  of  my  good  wife, 
believe  me  ever  most  affectionately  yours, 

'Edward  Paget.' 

We  must  now  return  to  India. 

Sir  Samford  Whittingliam  to  his  Brother-in-law. 

'Meerut,  lOth  January,  1827. 

*  My  dear  Davis, — The  intelhgence  of  the  loss  of  poor 
Captain  Seymour  [38th  Eegiment]  reached  me  this  morn- 
ing ;  and  it  would  be  in  vain  for  me  to  attempt  to 
describe  my  feelings  !  Sent  to  this  country  under  my 
especial  care,  I  have  ever  considered  him  as  a  son ;  and  it 
would  have  been  my  pride  and  glory  to  have  proved 
myself  a  second  father  to  him  !  Assure  my  dear  and 
beloved  friend  Sir  William  [Knighton]  how  deeply  I 
sympathize  in  his  affliction.' 

In  this  month,  Colonel  Willoughby  Cotton  was  the 
guest  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham ;  for  in  a  letter  dated 
the  20th,  he  thanks  him  for  his  hospitality.  Colonel 
Cotton  was  on  the  Staff  of  Lord  Combermere,  and  also 
aide-de-camp  to  the  King.  He  died  in  1860,  as  Sir 
Willoughby  Cotton,  G.C.B. 

On  the  31st  January  he  writes  from  Kirkondah,  twenty- 
four  miles  from  Meerut :  '  I  left  this  morning  on  my 
march  to  Cawnpore,  where  I  expect  to  find  the  order  for 
my  taking  the  command  of  that  division.  Lord  Carn- 
worth  goes  home  in  the  '' Prince  Begent,'' General  Pine 
is  appointed  to  command  the  Presidency  division  in  his 
place,  and  I  am  to  command  at  Cawnpore.'  On  his 
march  to  the  latter  he  writes  on  the  12tli  February, 
'  I  have  received  the  kindest,  the  most  affectionate  letter 
from  Sir  Edward  Paget !     His  letter  is  dated  27th  July ; 


AIDE-DE-CAMP   SELECTED   FOR  MERIT.  345 

yet  others  have  arrived  in  India  dated  the  middle  of 
September.' 

Long  after  he  was  gazetted  as  Commander  of  the  Bath, 
he  was  lamenting  that  he  had  not  been  thought  worthy  of 
his  promotion.  The  telegraph  has  put  an  end  to  similar 
trials  at  the  present  day. 

On  the  20th  February,  his  brother-in-law's  letter  of  the 
6th  and  12th  September,  1826,  reached  him,  and  rejoiced 
his  heart  with  the  intelligence  that  there  was  every  reason 
to  hope  that  he  would  not  be  left  unrewarded.  Later 
letters  of  the  14th  and  17th  September  reached  him,  and 
on  the  3rd  April,  1827,  he  writes,  'Sir  Edward  Paget's 
letter  to  Lord  Bathurst,  is  the  most  honourable  testimony 
of  service  I  could  possibly  have  received.  My  mind,'  Sir 
Samford  adds,  '  is  now  quite  at  ease,  and  my  position  in 
India  all  I  could  wish.' 

It  may  be  here  stated,  that  on  being  appointed  to  the 
Cawnpore  command,  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  selected 
as  his  aide-de-camp  the  gallant  lieutenant  who  had  so 
distinguished  himself  at  the  siege  of  Bhurtpore,  William 
Caine,  a  man  without  interest  and  with  nothing  but  his 
merit  to  recommend  him.  The  letter  continues :  '  the 
four  battalions  of  infantry  I  have  with  me  at  Cawnpore 
are  encamped  about  five  miles  off.  Every  morning  I  rise 
at  half- past  three  and  do  not  return  till  nine  :  the  whole 
of  that  time,  deducting  the  space  for  going  and  coming, 
being  employed  in  drilling  and  manoeuvring  the  troops ! 
I  am  thus  every  morning  on  horseback  for  five  hours ; 
and  Sunday  is  my  only  day  of  rest.' 

The  details  of  Lord  Combermere's  stay  in  Cawnpore 
are  not  recorded  in  any  letters  which  have  reached  the 
Editor.  But  two  survivors,  one  a  general  officer  of  the 
Indian  army  and  the  other  then  aide-de-camp  to  Sir  Sam- 
ford, well  remember  the  circumstances  of  that  visit. 

His  Lordship  arrived  on  the  29th  November,  1827,  and 
left  the  station  on  the  6th  December.     During  his  week's 


346  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

stay,  he  and  all  his  Staff  were  the  guests  of  Sir  Samford 
Whittingham.  Moreover  all  the  superior  oflScers,  and 
such  others  as  Lord  Combermere  desired  to  see,  were 
invited  on  each  day  to  dinner.  Those  of  the  Staff  and 
their  servants  for  whom  there  was  not  room  in  the  house 
pitched  their  tents  in  the  General's  own  ground.  The 
expense  of  such  a  visitation  may  be  imagined.  '  It  was 
the  talk  of  the  garrison.''  * 

Sir  Samford  accompanied  Lord  Combermere  to  Luck- 
now.  In  a  letter  from  that  city  dated  11th  December, 
1827,  he  writes  :  'We  arrived  here  this  morning  amidst 
the  crash  and  jostling  of  150  elephants,  all  pushing  for- 
wards at  the  same  time,  to  enter  a  narrow  street  of 
about  two  miles  long,  which  leads  to  the  palace  of  His 
Majesty  the  King  of  Oude.  About  half  my  howdah  was 
carried  away.  One  elephant  was  pushed  over  a  bridge  ; 
and  divers  were  the  mishaps  which  occurred.  But  I  am 
happy  to  say,  no  serious  evil  resulted  from  the  scramble. 
We  breakfasted  with  His  Majesty  of  Oude ;  and  tiffed  f 
with  the  Eesident,  with  whom  we  are  also  to  dine.' 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  Cawnpore,  27th  December,  1827. 

'  Many  happy  returns  of  the  season  to  you  and  yours, 
and  to  all  the  dear  circle.  The  important  news  of  the 
death  of  Mr.  Canning,  and  of  the  appointment  of  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  to  be  Commander-in-Chief  at  home 
and  of  that  of  Lord  Combermere  to  be  Viceroy  of 
Ireland  J  has  just  reached  us.  Lord  C.  will  I  believe 
return  immediately  to  Calcutta  to  embark  for  England. 
His  behaviour  to  me,  since  his  stay  with  me  at  Cawnpore, 
has  become  uniformly  that  of  a  sincere  and  affectionate 
friend.     It  is  the  reaction  of  a  generous  mind,  which 

*  The  words  of  an  eye-witness.     Sir  Samford,  however,  invited  his  Lord- 
ship, who  preferred  a  good  house  to  his  own  tent, 
t  Luncheon  is  called  tiffin  in  the  East. 
X  This  report  was  wholly  unfounded. 


LORD   COMBERMERE'S   FRIENDLINESS.  347 

feels  it  had  been  imposed  on  and  deceived.  The  canaille 
at  Calcutta  had  made  him  believe  that  I  was  a  very 
dangerous  monsfer,  from  whom  it  behoved  him  to  keep 
quite  clear.  Now  that  he  knows  me  well,  he  has  seen 
that  I  had  not  merited  the  honour  done  me  by  my  kind 
good  friends  in  the  city  of  Calcutta.  And  Hke  an  honest 
man,  he  endeavours  to  repay  by  unlimited  confidence  the 
injury  done  me  by  the  false  impression  that  had  been 
made  on  his  mind.  I  rejoice  at  this,  for  I  am  really 
glad  to  be  honoured  with  Lord  Combermere's  good 
opinion  .... 

'  Nothing  could  have  given  me  more  sincere  pleasure 
than  the  appointment  of  Lord  William  Bentinck.*  I  love 
and  admire  my  old  commander  and  am  quite  happy  at 
the  idea  of  again  serving  under  his  orders.' 

In  the  meantime  at  home,  in  the  spring  of  1827,  Sir 
Edward  Paget  had  been  rancorously  attacked  in  par- 
liament by  the  ardent  partisans  of  what  may  be  called  the 
Indian  mutiny- coaxing  system ;  but  he  was  victoriously 
defended,  though  the  supporters  of  the  system  were 
powerful  enough  to  postpone  for  years  the  necessary 
reforms,  which  would  involve  a  painful  loss  of  patronage 
and  power  to  themselves.  Sir  Samford  rejoiced,  as  may 
be  supposed,  in  Sir  Edward's  triumphs  at  home. 

In  a  letter  of  Sir  Edward's  dated,  '  Sandhurst,  17th 
July,  1827,'  after  apologizing  for  his  laziness  with  his  pen, 
he  continues,  '  Instead  of  looking  back,  however,  I  will 
look  forward ;  and  I  trust  I  may  do  it  with  confidence. 
For,  as  I  am  to  have  your  brave  boy  here  [as  a  college 
cadet]  in  the  course  of  next  month,  I  am  greatly  mistaken 
if  he  don't  give  an  activity  to  my  pen,  the  want  of  which 
you  have  sound  reason  to  complain  of 

'  You  have  long  known  the  fate  of  Hume's  motion  on 

♦  As  Governor-General.    During  the  last  two  years  of  his  stay  in  India 
his  Lordship  was  also  Commander-in-Chief — a  veritable  King  of  India. 


348  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  P.  WHITTINGHAM. 

the  Barrackpore  question  ;  and  before  this,  must  be  in 
possession  of  the  wonderful  events  which  have  produced  a 
change  of  administration,  &c.  One  of  the  appointments 
arising  out  of  the  recent  changes,  is  that  of  Lord  Wilham 
Bentinck  to  India.  I  have  had  one  long  talk  with  him, 
and  I  think  the  probability  is  that  I  shall  have  more,  and 
I  promise  you,  my  dear  friend,  that  you  will  not  escape 
the  severity  of  my  criticisms.  He  is  in  the  expectation  of 
starting  some  time  in  the  month  of  September. 

'  The  last  letter  I  received  from  you  grieved  me  to  the 
soul.  A  moment's  consideration,  however,  soon  set  me 
at  "ease,  as  it  satisfied  me  that  very  shortly  indeed  after  it 
was  written  you  must  have  become  acquainted  with  the 
fact  that  your  merits  and  services  were  better  known  and 
appreciated  at  home,  than  they  were  by  your  friends  in 
India.  If  you  want  any  proof  of  this  you  may  read  the 
enclosed.* 

'  I  am  off  for  Cowes,  to  pass  a  day  or  two  v^th  my 
brother,  who  has  escaped  from  the  Ordnance  Board,  to 
enjoy  a  few  weeks'  sailing.  I  hear  and  believe  that  he  is 
destined  to  succeed  Lord  Wellesley  in  Ireland.  Lady 
Harriet,  with  some  of  the  children,  is  also  on  the  move,  to 
pass  a  week  with  her  mother  at  Blackheath.  These  are 
holiday  times  at  Sandhurst,  which  we  are  turning  to 
account.  In  truth,  I  may  say  that  the  whole  is  holiday 
time  to  us.  For  we  like  our  situation  here  exceedingly, 
have  a  delightful  house,  garden,  and  grounds.  And  I 
have  just  enough  to  do,  to  be  interested  without  being 
oppressed;    and  daily  chant   the   Te  Deum,  at   having 

escaped  from  W ,  S ,  C ,  S ,  and  Co.;  and 

from  the  pestilential  vapours  of  Chowringhee  with  a  mens 
Sana  in  corpore  sano. 

'  Hoping,  my  dear  Whittingham,  that  you  still  find 
health  and  comfort  in  a  cigar,  I  this  day  dispatch  a  cargo 
of  real  and  genuine  Havannahs  to  Hart  Davis,  with  a 

*  The  enclosure  has  disappeared. 


SIR   EDWARD'S   PRESENTS.  340 

request  that  he  will  take  the  best  means  of  forwarding 
them  to  you.  I  have  also  sent  in  the  same  box,  Sir 
Walter  Scott's  "  Life  of  Napoleon,"  which  struck  me  as  a 
book  you  would  hke  to  read.  I  will  beg  of  him  to  let 
you  know  by  what  ship  the  box  is  sent. 

'  God  bless  you,  my  dear  and  excellent  friend !  And 
believe  me,  in  spite  of  my  idleness  and  neglect,  your 
sincerely  attached  and  affectionate  friend, 

'Edward  Paget.' 

[P.  S.]  '  Lady  Harriet  charges  me  with  the  best  wishes 
and  affectionate  regards  to  you.' 

In  a  letter  signed, '  Combermere,'  dated  'Head-quarters 
Calcutta,  15th  October,  1827,'  and  addressed  to  Major- 
General  Sir  S.  F.  Whittingham,  K.C.B.,  the  thanks  of 
the  House  of  Commons  were  conveyed  to  the  latter,  his 
Lordship  writes,  '  for  the  meritorious  and  gallant  manner 
in  which  you  performed  the  duties  which  were  assigned 
to  you  in  the  late  operations  against  Bhurtpore.'  Though 
quite  official,  it  ends  somewhat  unusually  with  very  sin- 
cerely^ your  obedient  servant. 

The  following  proves  the  nobleness  of  Sir  Edward 
Paget's  mind : — 

To  Sir  Sam  ford  Whittingham. 

(Extract.) 

'  Sandhtjest,  lO^A  JDecembei',  1827. 

'  I  assure  you,  my  dear  good  friend,  you  greatly  over- 
value the  step  I  took  in  representing  to  Lord  Bathurst 
your  just  claim  to  the  Bath,  as  I  am  quite  certain  that 
you  would  have  got  it,  at  the  very  time  you  did,  though 
I  had  been  altogether  silent  upon  the  subject.  It  is  the 
will  and  not  the  deed,  therefore,  that  you  must  lay  to  my 
account.'  * 

*  He  had  done  his  best  with  Lord  Bathurst  and  the  President  of  the 
Board  of  Control,  to  get  the  Bath  for  Commodore  Hayes  j  and  had  failed. 


350  '      MEMOm   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  God  bless  you,  my  very  dear  and  excellent  friend. 
Take  care  of  yourself,  and  don't  think  that  you  can  des- 
pise the  rays  of  the  sun  with  impunity  ....  and 
believe  me  ever 

'  Most  affectionately  yours, 

'Edward  Paget.' 

The  year  1828  opened  more  cheerfully  to  Sir  Samford 
Whittingham  than  had  its  predecessor.  The  system  of 
brief  extracts  from  the  fraternal  correspondence  will  be 
continued,  omitting  (except  on  rare  occasions)  the  politics 
of  India,  that  have  lost  their  interest : — 

^  Cawnpoee,  Qth  January,  1828. 

'  How  many  things  call  for  our  present  gratitude  to  the 
Great  Disposer  of  all  things !  My  position  in  this  country 
could  not  be  happier  or  more  comfortable.  Peace  and 
harmony  reign  throughout  the  whole  of  my  command  ; 
and  I  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  commander 
of  the  Cawnpore  district  is  not  less  popular  than  was  the 
governor  of  Dominica  !  Lord  Combermere  writes  to  me 
in  really  affectionate  terms,  and  my  old  friend  and  com- 
mander, Lord  William  Bentinck,  is  on  the  point  of  arri- 
ving. My  health  was  never  better,  and  my  mind  is  quite 
at  ease.' 

General  Whittingham  had  invited  Colonel  Willoughby 
Cotton,  then  on  the  Staff  of  his  relative.  Lord  Comber- 
mere,  to  accompany  him  on  a  tour  of  inspection  who, 
however,  could  not  obtain  his  Lordship's  leave,  but  sent 
an  excuse  full  of  the  most  flattering  affection,  from  which 
a  brief  portion  is  here  extracted  (dated  January  23rd, 
1828) : — '  Nothing  on  earth  could  have  given  me  so  much 
pleasure  as  to  have  accompanied  you.  I  never  flatter, 
but  truth  must  be  spoken,  and  I  have  the  highest  opinion 
of  your  head  and  heart.     Your  ideas  are  all  those  of  the 

It  was  not  then  usual  to  give  the  K.CB.  to  anyone  under  the  rank  of  Rear- 
Admiral  or  Major-General. 


WILLOUGHBY  COTTON*S  AFFECTIONATE   LETTER.  351 

high-bred  gentlemanly  officer,  and  depend  upon  it  all 
you  want  is  opportunity  ;  whenever  that  offers  the  result 
is  certain.'  Colonel  Cotton  alluded  to  the  opportunity  of 
a  large  command  in  war.  The  letter  ends  thus :  '  There 
is  a  report  the  Duke  of  Wellington  has  appointed  me, 
immediately  on  re-entering  office,  Quartermaster-General, 
vice  yourself  I  have  reason  to  think  this  is  true.  God 
bless  you,  and  believe  me  always  with  the  truest  sincerity, 
your  faithful  and  affectionate  friend, 

'WiLLOUGHBY   COTTON.' 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham  to  Sir  Edward  Paget. 

(Extract.) 

'  Cawnpoee,  &h  February,  1828. 

'  My  dear  General, — Many,  very  many  thanks  for 
your  kind  letter  of  the  17th  July  ;  and  for  the  very 
acceptable  present  of  Havannah  cigars,  and  the  "  Life  of 
Napoleon." 

'No  one  knows  better  than  I  do,  how  little  letter- 
writing  is  a  hobby-horse  with  you.  But  as  long  as  I  con- 
tinue to  hold  the  same  place  in  your  affections,  I  shall 
be  happy  and  contented  though  I  should  not  hear  from 
you  above  once  a  year.  I  shall  write  to  you  as  often  as 
anything  occurs  worthy  of  your  attention.     I  cannot  tell 

you  how  happy  I  am  at  the  idea  that  C.  and  will 

be  formed  into  manhood  under  your  guidance  and  direc- 
tion.* My  old  opinion  is  in  nowise  changed ;  and  I  look 
upon  it  as  the  greatest  blessing  that  could  have  befallen 
me  and  them,  that  they  should  have  such  a  model  of 
what  a  man  ought  to  be  before  their  eyes !  Davis  will 
have  told  you  all  about  Lord  Combermere's  visit  to 
Cawnpore.  .  .  . 

'  Nothing  that  I  can  recollect  in  the  whole  course  of  my 

*  That  is  a  general  superintendence.  The  Governor  of  the  College  inter- 
fered but  little  in  the  petty  details,  which  were  under  the  charge  of  subor- 
dinate officers  beginning  with  a  Lieut.-Governor. 


352  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  1^.  WHITTINGHAM. 

life  has  given  me  such  heartfelt  pleasure  as  the  assurance 
of  the  complete  happiness  you  and  Lady  Harriet  enjoy 
at  Sandhurst. 

'I  have  long  ceased  to  exist  for  myself,  but  I  have 
great  and  serious  duties  to  perform,  and  there  is  in  the 
very  performance  of  your  duty  a  source  of  real  and 
permanent  enjoyment.  Besides  I  enjoy  perfect  health ; 
and  when  I  look  around  and  compare  my  lot  with  that  of 
others,  I  bless  God  and  am  thankful. 

'  Adieu,  dear  and  beloved  friend.  To  feel  that  I  have 
a  right  to  call  you  by  that  endearing  name  is  the  delight 
and  solace  of  my  exile,  and  gilds  the  thought  of  my 
return  to  my  native  land.     Once  more  adieu. 

'  Ever  your  most  devoted  and  attached, 

'Samford  Whittingham.' 

On  the  5th  April,  1828,  Colonel  W.  Cotton  wrote  to 
Sir  Samford,  amongst  other  things  :  '  When  you  write  to 
Sir  Edward  Paget  pray  offer  him  my  best,  warmest,  and 
most  humble  remembrances.  I  hke  him  and  esteem  him 
as  one  of  our  best  officers 

'  The  whole  arrangements  were  formed  for  the  siege  of 
Bhurtpore  by  Sir  Edward.     The  execution  fell  into  Lord 

C 's  hands,  which  if  done  by  Sir  Edward  would  have 

given  him  the  peerage,  and  60,000/.  His  unfortunate 
capture  lost  it  [the  peerage]  to  him  with  Lord  Welling- 
ton's army.  He  deserved  it  for  the  passage  of  the  Douro  ; 
at  which  I  was  present  and  can  safely  aver  that  it  was 
owing  to  the  admirable  celerity  with  which  he  seized 
the  vantage  ground  on  crossing,  that  the  Duke  gained 
the  victory  that  day.' 

When  years  later  the  '  Wellington  Dispatches '  were 
published,  they  amply  confirmed  the  above  opinions  of 
the  late  Sir  Willoughby  Cotton.  At  page  329  of  the 
fourth  volume  of  that  immortal  work.  Sir  Edward  is  done 
full  justice.     Here  there  is  room  but  for  one  sentence. 


WILLOUGHBY   COTTON's   ESTEEM   FOR   SIR   SAMFORD.     353 

After  reporting  his  brother's  wound  to  the  Hon. 
Berkeley  Paget,  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  continues  :  '  I  can- 
not express  to  you  how  much  I  regret  the  loss  of  his 
assistance,  or  how  much  the  joy  of  the  whole  army  on 
account  of  this  success  has  been  damped  by  the  mis- 
fortune of  him  who  has  been  the  principal  promoter  of 
it.     I  hope,  however,  that  he  will  soon  recover.' 

The  enthusiastic  affection,  and  esteem  felt  by  Colonel 
Willoughby  Cotton  for  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  is  proved 
by  many  letters  in  the  Editor's  possession. 

They  are  all  very  similar  in  tone  to  one  dated  '  Camp, 
December  9th'  (probably  in  1828)  which  thus  begins, 
'Many  thanks  for  yours,  this  day  received  by  me.  It 
contains  as  all  your  letters  do,  most  valuable  opinions, 
couched  in  most  forcible  and  gentlemanly  terms.' 

On  the  24th  of  June  Lord  Combermere  writes  to  Sir 
Samford :  '  What  changes  have  taken  place  at  home ! 
The  Duke  will  be  everything ;  and  I  hope  he  will  recol- 
lect his  old  and  steady  friends.  Hill  is  named  as  Com- 
mander of  the  Forces.  But  our  friend  Paget  (who  is 
senior  to  Hill)  is  much  more  fit  for  the  situation.* 

In  his  private  notes,*  his  Lordship  never  signed  his 
name  in  full.  This  one  ends  :  '  yours  my  dear  Whitting- 
ham, most  truly,  C 

Viscount  Combermere  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

(Extract.) 

'  Simla,  mth  June,  1828. 

'  My  dear  Whittingham, — I  rejoice  to  hear  that  you 
are  so  much  better.     I  did  not  hke  to  tell  you,  before 

you  had  recovered,  that  Lord  C h  was  trying  hard 

through  C 1  (no  friend  of  yours)  to  get  the  Govern- 
ment to  put  him  on  the  Staff  of  Bengal.  I  think  it 
rather   cool  of  Lord  C.  requesting  me  to  send  you  to 

*  In  one  of  these  notes  Lord  Combermere  candidly  tells  Sir  Samford  that 
lie  has  no  reason  '  to  complain  of  Dame  Fortune '  and  mentions  his  obtain- 
ing Hhis  command '  as  one  of  the  best  specimens  of  his  good  luck. 

A  A 


354  MEMOIR  OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

Madras,  and  to  remove  Pine  in  order  to  make  room  for 
him  at  Barrackpore.  I  shall  protest  against  it.  I  had  a 
letter  from  Torrens.  He  says  I  should  have  been  Com- 
mander-in-Chief had  I  been  in  England.' 

From  the  Same  to  the  Same. 

(Extract.) 

^  Simla,  ISth  July. 

'  It  is  too  late  now  for  me  to  think  of  going  home 
this  year.  I  have  sent  my  resignation  home,  and  have 
requested  that  my  successor  may  be  at  Calcutta  by  the 
end  of  October  [18]29 ;  and  I  am  bound  to  remain  till 
relieved. 

'  I  fancy  by  Paget  not  having  been  appointed  Com- 
mander-in-Chief, that  he  was  told  it  would  be  only  tem- 
porary or  perhaps  it  was  offered,  and  he  refused  to  take 
it  upon  the  terms  on  which  Hill  holds  the  situation. 
Any  General  Officer  would  have  been  glad  to  take  the 
College  for  him,  with  an  understanding  that  Paget  was  to 
return  to  it  upon  his  giving  up  the  command  of  the 
army.  But  you  will  no  doubt  hear  from  Sir  Edward,  or 
from  Mr.  Davis  by  the  "  Undaunted^ ' 

Lord  William  Bentinck  landed  at  Calcutta  on  the  4th 
July,  1828.  Soon  afterwards  Sir  Samford  sent  him  a 
congratulatory  letter,  and  expressed  the  sincere  pleasure 
he  felt  '  at  being  again  placed  under  his  command.' — His 
Lordship  replied  as  follows  : — 

Lord  William  Bentinck  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

^  Calcutta,  IQth  July,  1828, 

'My  dear  General, — I  assure  you  that  it  gives  me  very 
great  pleasure  to  come  again  in  contact  with  you.  I 
never  entertained  other  than  the  most  sincere  esteem  and 
respect  for  you;  and  I  am  confident  that  I  shall  find 
nothing  in  your  Indian  history,  which  will  not  increase 
my  former  good  opinion. 


LETTERS   FROM    LORD   WILLIAM   BENTINCK.  355 

'  I  have  to  ask  of  you  tlie  favour  of  naming  to  me 
two  or  three  officers  of  my  own  regiment,*  from  the 
Captains  and  subalterns  ;  from  w^hom  I  may  select  an 
A.  D.  C.     Among  others,  I  should  be  glad  to  know  your 

opinion  of  Captain  M e.     I  need  not  describe  to  you 

the  character  required ;  but  as  Lady  William  is  with  me, 
it  is  very  important  to  have  a  gentleman  in  every  sense 
of  the  word,  who  will  not  be  disagreeable  to  us  as  an 
inmate;  and  who  will  be  civil  and  respectful  to  all  who 
have  access  to  the  house.  I  naturally  should  have  asked 
this  question  of  [Brigadier]  General  Sleigh, f  for  whom 
I  have  always  entertained  feelings  of  respect.  But  I  learn 
with  regret  that  there  have  been  great  dissensions  in  the 
Corps ;  and  I  should  rather  like  to  have  an  opinion  en- 
tirely impartial.  As  I  do  not  mean  to  be  a  prisoner  at 
Calcutta,  and  am  of  opinion  that  I  can  best  judge  of  the 
state  of  things  by  personal  inspection  and  information  on 
the  spot,  I  trust  at  no  great  distance  of  time,  to  have  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you.  In  the  meantime  believe  me, 
my  dear  Sir, 

'  Ever  most  sincerely  yours, 

'  W.  Bentinck.' 

^Major-General  Sir  Samford|  V^hittingham,  K.C.B.' 

Of  the  reply  to  the  above  letter  the  Editor  has  no  copy. 
From  the  Same  to  the  Same. 

(Extract.) 

^  Calcutta,  18^A  August,  1828. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — I  feel  much  obliged  by  the  kind  and 
friendly  manner  in  which  you  have  so  fully  and  satis- 
factorily entered  into  the  question  I  took  the  liberty  of 

*  The  11th  Light  Dragoons,  now  Hussars. 

t  Though  a  local  Brigadier-General,  Sleigh  was  the  Commanding 
Officer  of  the  11th  Dragoons. 

X  Curiously  enough  in  the  original  letter  Lord  William  has  written 
Sandford  instead  of  Samford,  exactly  as  George  IV.  did  in  the  letter  of  in- 
troduction \jn  Sir  Edward  Paget. 

A    A    2 


356  MEMOIR   OP   SIR   S.  F.  AVIIITTINGHAM. 

putting  to  you.  I  have  offered  the  situation  to  Captain 
Mansell.  The  favourable  opinion  expressed  by  you  has 
been  fully  confirmed  by  the  reports  of  others.' 

The  Editor  has  omitted  to  allude  in  its  proper  place  to 
a  letter  from  Sir  Herbert  Taylor  to  Sir  Samford  Whit- 
tingham,  which  must  have  reached  India  in  the  spring  of 
1828,  being  dated  23rd  October,  1827.  It  consists  of  no 
less  than  fifteen  pages  of  old-fashioned  letter  paper.  In 
it  he  says :  '  Thank  God,  I  am  released  from  a  drudgery 
which  nothing  but  a  feeling  of  attachment  to  the  Duke 
of  York,  and  to  the  King  in  the  first  instance,  and  a  sense 
of  duty  in  the  next,  could  have  enabled  me  to  get 
through.  I  have  resigned  my  office  to  a  most  trust- 
worthy and  amiable  man,*  and  I  trust  that  he  will  not 
be  embarrassed  by  any  of  my  proceedings  when  I  held 
it.'  In  this  interesting  letter  Sir  Herbert  attributes  to 
Hhe  zealous  and  disinterested  exertions  of  Sir  Edward 
Paget,'  the  success  of  the  Burmese  campaign.  He  also 
gives  him  credit  'for  the  preparations  which  ensured  suc- 
cess in  the  attack  on  Bhurtpore^'  adding,  '  I  have  always 
regretted  that  our  friend  did  not  stay  and  reap  the  bene- 
fits of  these  exertions.' 

Sir  Herbert  also  expresses  his  approval  of  Sir  Sam- 
ford's  plans  of  Indian  reforms.  The  whole  voluminous 
letter  shows  how  this  able  and  trusted  confidant  of 
(eventually)  three  successive  Kings  of  England  respected 
and  esteemed  the  subject  of  this  Memoir,  as  well  as  his 
noble  friend  Sir  Edward  Paget. 

Viscount  Comhermere  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

(Private.) 

^  Simla,  nth  August,  1828. 

'My  dear  Whittingham, — Davis's  next  letters  will  be 
most  interesting.     We  must  have  April  ships  in  soon. 

*  Lord  Fitzroy  Somerset,  afterwards  Lord  Raglan. 


LOED   COMBERMERE's   PROOF   OF   CONFIDENCE.        357 

C 1  could  not  carry  his  friend  Lord  C li  through. 

Lord  WilHam  Bentinck,  I  am  glad  to  find,  does  not  con- 
sider the  Colonel  his  oracle,  as  Lord did.     Several 

things  that  had  been  refused  by  Colonel  C 1  in  Lord 

's  and  Bailey's  administration  were  brought  before 

Lord  William  by  my  desire  for  consideration,  and  all 
have  been  granted 

'I  am  going  to  send  you  a  Eegiment  (44th)  in  Novem- 
ber, which  will  require  a  deal  of  surveillance.     Colonel 

S n  is  a  very  gallant  officer ;  but  his  ofiicers  are  either 

bad  or  he  does  not  know  how  to  manage  them.  How- 
ever you  will  find  all  this  out,  and  I  trust  you  will  make 
this  corps  what  it  ought  to  be.  You  had  better  not 
mention  my  intention  respecting  this  change  of  quarters, 
except  (confidentially)  to  Colonel  Frith.* 

'  In  haste,  my  dear  Whittingham,  most  truly  yours, 

'C 

Enough  has  been  shown  of  Lord  Combermere's  letters 
to  prove  how  friendship  and  confidence  had  replaced  the 
coldness  which  had  been  at  first  infused  into  his  mind, 
by  jealousies,  which  after  all  were  only  too  natural,  under 
the  circumstances,  which  had  formerly  thrown  into  the 
hands  of  a  King's  Officer  the  influential  Staff*  duties 
usually  performed  by  two  or  three  Company's  officers.  In 
the  opinion  of  a  surviving  General,  a  man  of  sound  sense 
and  ability,  who  then  served  the  Company  in  a  subaltern 
capacity,  (and  whose  judgment  therefore  cannot  be  biased 
in  favour  of  the  King's  officer)  the  state  of  the  Head 
Quarter  Staff*  had  perfectly  justified  Sir  Edward  Paget  in 
departing  from  the  then  usual  practice.  But  it  was  not 
to  be  expected  that  those  who  actually  lost  power  and 
influence  would  be  contented,  and  it  was  certain  that 

*  Lord  Combermere  no  doubt  feared  that  the  General  from  whose  com- 
mand the  regiment  was  moved  to  be  put  in  order  might  take  offence.  There 
is  reason  to  believe  that  the  commanding  officer  of  the  regiment  was  chiefly 
to  blame,  if  not  entirely  so. 


358  MEMOIE   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

their  discontent  would  be  generally  sympathized  with  by 
the  Company's  officers.  But  though  the  jealousy  and 
hostility  was  natural,  the  affair  was  not  the  less  creditable 
to  the  zeal  and  talents  of  the  King's  officer.  The  good 
sense  by  which  Lord  Combermere  rescued  himself  from 
the  influence  of  a  powerful  clique,  and  admitted  Sir  Sam- 
ford  Whittingham  to  his  confidence,  and,  even  friendship, 
is  perceptible  in  his  later  correspondence,  where  he  is 
ready  to  combat  for  the  interests  of  the  very  man  whom 
at  the  outset  he  had  treated  with  a  coldness  approaching 
to  discourtesy. 

Far  away  in  England,  his  late  Chief  still  retained  his 
ardent  affection  for  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  : — 

Sir  Edward  Paget  to  Mr.  Hart  Davis. 

(Extract.) 

^  San^dhuest,  25th  November,  1828. 

'  My  dear  Davis, — A  thousand  thanks  for  your  most 
kind  letter.  It  grieved  me  to  the  soul  to  hear  that  my 
most  dear,  most  excellent,  but  alas !  neglected  friend,  has 
had  so  serious  an  illness  at  Cawnpore.  God  grant  that 
he  may  be  entirely  recovered,  and  that  your  next  letter 
may  bring  you  the  grateful  tidings.  Pray,  pray,  let  me 
hear  from  you  when  they  arrive.  I  know  not  the  indi- 
vidual out  of  my  own  family,  whose  loss  would  so  deeply 
wound  me.  Would  that  the  time  were  arrived,  at  which 
he  could  withdraw  himself  from  that  infernal  land  of 
cholera.  His  Hfe  is  of  infinitely  more  value  to  his  family 
and  friends,  than  lacs  of  rupees,  and  I  hope  you  will  join 
me  in  telling  him  so.' 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham  to  his  Brother-in-law. 

*  Cawnpore,  bth  December,  1828. 

'  The  Duke  of  Wellington,  in  my  humble  opinion, 
possesses  more  of  sterling  British  good  sense,  and  real 
sound  judgment  than  any  man  I  have  ever  yet  known. 


SIR  sampord's  ambition.  359 

Sir  George  Murray  you  will  find  a  most  able  man  of 
business,  and  tlie  new  Secretary-at-War,*  with  whom  I 
was  at  High  Wycombe,  possesses  very  superior  abilities. 
I  have  received  a  letter  from  Finucane,  as  late  as  the 
18th  June,  in  which  he  says  that  you  were  again  quite 
well.  How  nobly  your  friends  at  Bristol  constantly  be- 
have !  Tell  our  old  friend,  Mr.  Bush,  that  I  have  got  his 
son  attached  to  a  regiment  at  Cawnpore,  and  that  I  will 
do  everything  in  my  power  to  serve  and  take  care  of  him. 
In  January,  I  shall  meet  Lord  Combermere  at  Keitah — 
take  leave  of  him — inspect  the  troops  at  Bundelkund  and 
return  to  my  camp  of  instruction  at  Cawnpore,  on  the 
1st  February.  Brigade  and  field  days  will  occupy  that 
month,  and  the  greater  part  of  March.  Four  battalions 
of  infantry,  eight  squadrons  of  cavalry,  and  twelve  pieces 
of  artillery,  will  be  the  manoeuvring  force.  I  will  send 
you  one  of  my  field-days,  to  show  my  good  friend  Tor- 
rens.f  To  many  people,  all  this  would  be  tiresome.  I 
confess  I  dehght  in  what  I  contemplate  as  merely  neces- 
sary preparation  for  some  great  and  glorious  day.  "  My 
fortune's  on  my  saddle-bow",  and  my  greatest  ambition 
an  honourable  grave  on  the  field  of  battle.' 

*  Sir  Henry  (afterwards  Viscount)  Hardinge. 

t  Sir  Henry  Torrens  had  been  dead  some  months  when  Sir  Samford  wrote 
these  words. 


360  MEMOIR  OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 


OHAPTEE  XVn. 

1829—1830. 

ON"  EOTJTE  TO  MEET  LORD  COMBEEMERE — TAKES  FINAL  LEATE  OE  LORD 
COMBERMERE — LETTER  OF  SOUTHET  TO  MR.  HART  DAVIS — GREAT  UN- 
POPULARITY OF  LORD  WILLIAM  BENTINCK — CAPTAIN  CAINE  A.D.C.  AND 
THE  TIGERS — DELIGHTFUL  CLIMATE  OF  MEERUT — UNIVERSAL  HARMONY 
AT  CAWNPORE  STATION — LORD  COMBERMERE's  LETTER — MUSSOURIE  HILLS 
— INDIA  NOT  A  GOOD  SCHOOL  FOR  YOUNG  SOLDIERS — A  HOME  ON  THE 
HILLS — LORD  HASTINGS  VERSUS  LORD  AMHERST  AS  A  FINANCIER — 
ACCOUNTS  MYSTERIOUSLY  WITHHELD — SIR  HENRY  HARDINGE's  COR- 
RESPONDENCE WITH  SIR  SAMFORD — EXPECTED  VISITS  FROM  LORD 
WILLIAM  BENTINCK  AND  LORD  DALHOUSIE — ANXIETY  FOR  A  PROLONGED 
COMMAND. 

'  Calpee  :  Srd  January,  1829,  50  miles  from  Cawnpore. 
— I  am  thus  far  on  my  route  to  Keitat,  to  meet  Lord 
Combermere,  and  have  been  passing  some  days  with  Mr. 
Saunders,  one  of  the  civil  servants  of  the  Company,  and 
commercial  resident  for  them  here.'  [He  speaks  most 
highly  of  this  gentleman's  skill,  zeal,  and  management ; 
and  enters  copiously  into  cotton  details,  unsuited  for  this 
Memoir  ;  then  after  repeating  and  dwelling  on  his  unalter- 
able belief  on  the  subject  of  the  transfer  of  authority  in 
India,  he  ends  with] — '  So  strong,  indeed,  is  this  the  con- 
viction of  my  mind,  that  I  know  of  nothing  in  public  life 
that  would  give  me  more  pleasure  than  to  hear  that 
India,  civil  and  mihtary,  was  placed  at  the  disposition  of 
His  Majesty.' 

'  Banda  :  29th  January. — This  morning  I  took  my 
final  leave  of  Lord  Combermere,  who  has  been  kind 
and  attentive  to  me  beyond  expression.  He  proceeds 
through  Cawnpore,  &c.  to  Calcutta  ;  and  I  am  on  my  re- 


SOUTIIEY's   letter   to   MR.  HART   DAVIS.  361 

turn  to  Cawnpore,  where  I  expect  to  arrive  on  the  3rd 
February.  On  that  day  I  inspect  the  artillery.  Yester- 
day's letters  and  papers  brought  us  the  melancholy  news 
of  the  death  of  our  old  and  much  esteemed  friend,  Tor- 
rens !  I  do  not  know  any  event  that  has  more  com- 
pletely affected  me.  To  Sir  Herbert  Taylor,  who  succeeds 
him,*  I  have  written  a  few  hues,  enclosed  in  this  letter. 
I  rode  eighteen  miles  to  breakfast  this  morning,  without 
the  slightest  fatigue.  Indeed,  I  never  recollect  to  have 
been  in  better  health.  Lord  William  Bentinck  is  travel- 
ling dak  about  Bengal,  but  his  movements  are  so  com- 
pletely kept  to  himself,  that  we  have  no  certainty  as  to 
his  real  intention.  I  wish  he  may  come  to  Cawnpore,  I 
shall  be  delighted  to  see  him.  Lord  Combermere  goes 
home  about  the  middle  of  next  •November.' 

About  the  middle  of  1829  Sir  Samford  Whittingham 
must  have  received  from  his  brother-in-law  the  following 
note,  written  by  Eobert  Southey : — 

Mr.  Southey  to  Mr.  Hart  Davis,  f 

'  Keswick,  15th  January,  1829. 

'  Sir, — I  have  this  day  been  favoured  with  your  oblig- 
ing note,  and  the  papers  from  Sir  Samuel  F.  Whittingham. 
In  the  course  of  the  present  year,  I  hope  to  produce  the 
facts  contained  in  these  papers  in  a  manner  which  will 
satisfy  Sir  Samuel,  by  representing  the  true  case.  Indeed 
he  had  put  me  in  possession  of  them  before  he  left  Eng- 
land ;  and  they  had  enabled  me  sometimes  to  render 
him  that  justice  in  private  which  I  shall  with  great  plea- 
sure render  him  in  public.  I  never  write  with  more 
pleasure  than  when  rendering  due  honour  to  the  living 
or  the  dead. 

*  Sir  H.  Taj  lor  was  appointed  Adjutant-General  on  the  25tli  August  1828. 

t  This  note  of  Southey's  came  into  the  Editor's  possession  only  after  he 
had  finished  writing  this  work  as  far  as  Chapter  XX.  It  amply  confirms 
directly  the  conclusion  which  he  had  already  arrived  at  indirectly. 


362  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  Many  years  have  passed  since  I  liave  been  connected 
with  Bristol  in  any  other  way  than  by  a  family  burial- 
place  in  Ashton  churchyard.  But  I  love  my  native  city 
dearly,  am  proud  to  be  noticed  as  a  Bristolian  by  you  its 
worthy  representative,  and  shall  continue  to  labour  while 
I  can,  in  the  hope  and  belief  that  I  may  leave  a  name 
which  may  be  held  there  in  good  remembrance.  I  have 
the  honour  to  remain,  Sir, 

'  Your  obliged  and  obedient  servant, 

'EOBERT   SOUTHEY.' 

But  in  addition  to  the  information  that  Southey  obtained 
direct  from  General  Whittingham,  he  must  certainly  have 
obtained,  as  explained  in  the  preface,  the  most  important 
of  the  letters  which  the  letter  addressed  to  the  successive 
Military  Secretaries  at  the  Horse-Guards. 

A  long  letter  (to  Mr.  Davis  of  the  17th  June)  narrates 
the  reduction  in  the  pay  and  allowances  of  the  military 
officers  made  by  Lord  William  Bentinck,  and  its  effects, 
and  adds :  '  The  Governor-General  is  unpopular  to  a  de- 
gree beyond  belief,  and  I  am  really  afraid  he  will  receive 
open  marks  of  disrespect  in  his  journey  through  the  Upper 
Provinces.' 

'  Cawnpore^  ISth  July,  1829. — My  aide-de-camp.  Cap- 
tain Caine,  H.M.'s  41st  Eegiment,  has  been  out  on  a 
shooting  party  lately ;  and,  with  two  companions,  killed 
forty-three  tigers,  and  twelve  young  ones.  He  begs  you 
to  accept  of  two  skins,  truly  the  largest  and  finest  I  ever 
saw ;  and  which  I  send  to  you  by  Cornet  Hindman,  of 
H.M.'s  11th  Light  Dragoons.  He  has  promised  to  take 
great  care  of  them,  and  to  deliver  them  to  you.  He  is  a 
gentlemanly  young  man,  who  will,  I  think,  rather  please 
you.  In  order  that  you  may  have  some  idea  of  Caine, 
I  forward  you  a  copy  of  the  statement  I  gave  Lord 
Combermere  of  his  conduct  at  the  storming  of  Bhurt- 
pore,  where  he  had  acted  as  Brigade-Major  to  Brigadier- 


UNIVERSAL   HAEMONY   AT   CAWNPOEE.  363 

General  M'Combe.  Such  very  extraordinary  gallantry 
should  be  made  as  public  as  possible,  and  I  know  that 
you  will  peruse  the  statement  with  interest  and  pleasure. 
I  spoke  to  Lord  Combermere  in  his  favour,  and  his  Lord- 
ship gave  him  very  shortly  afterwards  a  Company  in  the 
41st,  which  has,  to  my  great  dehght,  been  confirmed  by 
Lord  Hill.'* 

^  Cawnpore,  2bth  December,  1829. 

[Alluding  to  past  gifts  he  writes  to  Sir  Edward  Paget] — 
'  The  hookah  is  the  admiration  of  everyone  who  has  seen 
it.  The  httle  Admiral  is  still  the  darling  pet.  The  hats, 
the  tonjon,  the  iron  chest,  all  are  mementos  of  the  man 
whom  of  all  others  I  have  most  esteemed  and  loved.' 

The  following  is  to  his  Brother-in-law  : — 

^CawnporE;  '[st  January,  1830. 

'  The  compliments  of  the  season  to  all  the  dear  circle ! 
Will  you  send  these  compliments,  which  truly  come  from 
the  heart,  to  our  dear  friend,  f  and  all  his  amiable  family ; 
and  also  to  my  much  loved  friends  Sir  Edward  and  Lady 
Harriet  Paget.  I  enclose  a  Calcutta  paper  containing  an 
account  of  our  mode  of  carrying  on  the  war  at  Cawn- 
pore.  J  I  am  proud  of  the  universal  harmony  which  now 
prevails  at  a  station  famous  in  former  days  for  a  very 
opposite  spirit.  I  enclose  also  Lord  Combermere's  last 
letter  to  me,  written  in  a  tone  of  friendship,  which  de- 
lights me,  and  will  I  am  sure  highly  gratify  you.  Lord 
Combermere  is  one  of  the  best  soldiers  I  have  known, 
and  a  man  of  great  sense  and  judgment ;  I  sincerely  love 
him.' 

The  re-action  caused  by  the  change  in  Lord  Comber- 
mere's treatment  of  him,  filled  his  warm  and  affectionate 
heart  with  gratitude ;  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  this 

*  Vide  Appendix  C.    Surely  the  Victoria  Cross  might  be  back-dated  and 
given  to  such  veterans  as  Colonel  Caine. 
t  Sir  William  Knighton. 
J  This  paper  is  not  forthcoming. 


364  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

letter  of  his  Lordship  has  been  lost  or  mislaid.  But  it 
was  already  quite  evident  from  previous  letters,  that  both 
Chief  and  subordinate  understood  and  appreciated  one 
another,  and  were  on  very  friendly  terms. 

In  the  beginning  of  1830,  Sir  Samford  was  anticipating 
official  visits  from  Lord  William  Bentinck,  the  Governor- 
General,  and  from  the  new  Commander-in-Chief,  the  Earl 
of  Dalhousie.  In  the  letter  mentioning  the  above  facts, 
occur  the  following  natural  lamentations  : — '  Nothing  is 
to  me  so  grievous  in  India  as  the  slowness  of  our  corre- 
spondence. From  the  date  of  my  writing  to  you,  my 
beloved  brother,  till  the  receipt  of  your  letter  in  answer, 
seldom  less  than  a  year  elapses ;  and  it  is  impossible  to 
get  rid  of  the  idea  that  a  thousand  things  may  have 
happened  between  the  date  of  your  letters  and  their  re- 
ception by  me. '  * 

Voluminous  letters  about  the  education  and  prospects 
of  his  children  abound  this  year.  He  has  also  hopes  of 
effecting  a  pleasant  change  of  military  command. 

'10th  March,  1830. — Lord  Dalhousie  has  promised  that 
I  shall  succeed  Sir  Jasper  Nicholls  at  Meerut.  Sir  Jasper 
resigns  in  January  1831.  He  would  stay  longer,  but  a 
large  family  of  daughters  requires  his  presence  in  Eng- 
land. I  am  very  glad  of  this  change  ;  the  climate  of 
Meerut  is  better  than  that  of  Cawnpore,  and  it  is  so  near 
the  hills,  that  a  change  of  air  if  necessary  can  be  procured 
in  twenty-four  hours.' 

He  was  taken  ill  this  spring,  and  removed  for  change 
of  air  to  the  Hills  : — 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

^  MussouRiE  in  the  Himalayan  Mountains  ;  six  miles  above 
DnooN  Detea,  140  miles  from  Meerut,  dth  May,  1830. 

'You  will  I  know  be  greatly  rejoiced  to  hear  that  my 
health  is  already  perfectly  restored  by  this  most  delightful 

*  He  lived  himself  just  long  enough  to  witness  great  modification  of  this 
evil,  by  the  establishment  of  the  overland  postage  to  India. 


INDIA   A   BAD   SCHOOL   FOE   YOUNG   OFFICERS.         365 

climate,  I  never  breathed  so  pure  an  air.  The  tliermo- 
meter  ranges  from  62°  to  65°.  I  sleep  under  a  double 
blanket,  and  we  seldom  pass  a  day  without  hghting  a 
fire ;  yet  this  is  the  hottest  season  of  the  year.  On  the 
1st  of  November,  I  shall  return  to  Meerut,  where  I  assume 
the  command. 

'  Lord  Dalhousie  is  better,  and  keeps  to  his  resolution 
of  sailing  up  the  Ganges  for  these  upper  provinces  in  July 
next.  I  shall  see  him  at  Meerut  instead  of  Cawnpore ; 
and  I  shall  have  hard  work  in  November  and  December, 
to  get  the  troops  in  as  good  order  as  I  had  them  in  at 
Cawnpore.  Lord  William  writes  to  me  in  the  same  kind 
and  friendly  style  he  has  ever  done.  I  expect  he  will  be 
at  Meerut  in  January.' 

To  the  Same. 

*  MussoTJEiE  near  Landour,  22nd  May,  1830. 

'  In  regard  to I  would  not  upon  any  account  that 

he  should  come  out  to  Lidia,  which  I  look  upon  as  the 
worst  school  into  which  a  young  military  man  can  be 
thrown.  Habits  of  idleness,  dissipation,  and  great  expense 
are  almost  invariably  acquired ;  and  but  seldom  corrected 
by  that  spirit  of  subordination  and  strict  military  dis- 
cipline which  is  so  forcibly  inculcated  in  our  regiments 

in  Europe.     I  am  sorry  B s*  is  placed  in  the th. 

It  is  a  particularly  good  fighting  regiment;  but  I  am  afraid 

so  admirable  a  young  man  as  you  describe  B s  to  be, 

will  find  but  little  congenial  to  his  feelings  amongst  the 
officers  of  that  corps.     I  am  particularly  anxious  that 

,  when  he  has  passed  his  examination  at  Sandhurst, 

should  obtain  a  commission  in  the  Eifle  Brigade,  and  if  no 
opportunity  should  offer  of  his  obtaining  it  gratis,  I  would 
purchase  him  his  first  commission  rather  than  see  him 
enter  any  other  corps.  Pray  talk  this  matter  over  with 
Sir  Edward  Paget ;  and  tell  him  at  the  same  time,  how 

*  Now  Major-General,  lately  commandiDg  the  Cork  district  in  Ireland. 


3C6  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

much  I  feel  gratified  and  honoured  by  his  choosing  me 
godfather  to  his  little  boy. 

'  When  I  came  to  these  heavenly  mountains,  I  purposed 
residing  with  my  old  and  good  friends  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grant. 
But  the  sudden  death  of  Mrs.  Grant  changed  all  my  pro- 
jects, and  threw  me  upon  the  wide  world  with  the  least 
preparation  for  such  an  unexpected  change.  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Daunt  of  H.  M.'s  44th,  who  are  here  for  their  health, 
kindly  took  compassion  upon  me ;  and  I  am  now  living 
with  them  (and  with  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Magrath,  who  form 
part  of  the  family),  with  more  real  comfort  than  I  have 
enjoyed  since  my  arrival  in  India.  It  is  delightful  to 
meet  with  such  estimable  friends,  in  this  far  distant  land, 
and  close  to  the  snowy  range.' 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  to  Mr.  Davis  is  a 
proof  of  the  activity  of  the  writer's  mind,  who  even  when 
on  leave  in  the  hills  could  not  be  idle  : — 

'MussoTTRiE,  2Sth  May  J  1830. 

'  When  Lord  Hastings  left  India,  the  surplus  revenue  ex- 
ceeded 800,000/.  per  annum.  The  deficit  is  now  1,400,000/. 
per  annum.  This  evil  must  be  remedied ;  but  not  by  such 
trifling  means  as  cutting  15,000/.  per  annum  from  the 
army.  In  my  opinion  the  great  evil  arises  from  the  un- 
productive territory  of  the  Presidency  of  Bombay.  All 
territory  not  productive  costs  enormous  expense,  which 
must  be  paid  by  the  Presidency  of  Bengal.  Such  terri- 
tory should  be  divided  between  and  given  to  petty  rajahs, 
under  a  trifling  rent,  which  however  small,  would  be  so 
much  clear  gain,  whilst  all  expense  on  our  part  would 
cease.  The  enclosed  queries  I  drew  up  and  sent  to  a 
high  civil  servant  to  be  answered.  I  extract  a  part  of  his 
letter  to  me  in  answer,  and  if  you  think  it  worth  your 
attention,  pray  call  for  such  records  of  the  House  of 
Commons  as  may  bear  upon  them  ;  you  will  thus  acquire 
much  more  positive  information  than  it  is  in  my  power  to 


ACCOUNTS  MYSTERIOUSLY  WITHHELD.  36T 

send  you.  My  friend  says  :  "  Without  books  and  papers 
I  cannot  answer  distinctly  these  questions.  In  either  the 
second  or  third  report  of  the  committee  of  the  House  of 
Commons  previous  to  the  last  charter,  there  are  numerous 
accounts  from  which  the  matter  might  be  collected.  In 
the  '  Asiatic  Journal,'  some  of  the  late  accounts  annually 
laid  before  Parliament  were  printed.  I  have  not  with 
me  any  of  the  Accountant-General's  annual  estimates  and 
reports  on  accounts,  which  are  the  foundation  of  all  the 
accounts  of  India.  For  the  last  three  years^  these  accounts 
have  been  withheld  from  us.^^ 

'  It  is  only  therefore  in  the  records  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons that  full  and  authentic  information  can  be  acquired. 
'  Sincerely  yours, 

'  Samfoed  Whittingham.' 

This  year  he  carried  on  a  most  friendly  demi-official 
correspondence  with  the  Seer etary-at- War,  Sir  Henry 
(afterwards  Viscount)  Hardinge,  on  the  subject  of  sol- 
diers' pensions,  and  quartering  troops  on  the  hills. 

On  the  2nd  of  August,  he  writes  to  his  brother-in-law: — 
'  I  am  glad  to  see  Lord  Clare's  appointment  to  the  go- 
vernment of  Bombay,  inasmuch  as  it  will  insure  Lord 
WilHam's  coming  up  the  country,  which  might  have  been 
prevented  had  Sir  Charles  Metcalfe  been  appointed  as  was 
here  reported.  Sir  Charles  is  a  member  of  council,  and 
an  old  and  experienced  Civil  servant;  and  Lord  William 
might  not  have  felt  it  expedient  to  have  left  the  council 
without  him.  I  hope  to  have  many  a  long  conversation 
with  Lord  William  on  the  interesting  subjects  of  those 
hills.  I  shall  quit  them  [the  hills]  with  deep  regret,  and 
return  to  them  with  infinite  pleasure.  They  have  per- 
fectly restored  my  health ;  and  they  have  afforded  me  an 
existence  of  quiet  and  tranquil  happiness,  such  as  I  have 
never  experienced  since  I  left  home.' 

'  20th  August. — My  exchange  with  Sir  Jasper  is  in  orders 
to  take  place  on  the  1st  November.' 


368  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  Meerut,  Gth  November. — Here  I  am  again  on  the  plains, 
in  perfect  health  and  vigour;  full  of  business  and  prepara- 
tions for  our  great  men — Lord  William  first;  and  then 
Lord  Dalhousie.  I  shall  give  them  first  a  review  of  a 
brigade  of  infantry ;  then  of  four  regiments  of  cavalry, 
and  thirty  pieces  of  horse  artillery;  and  then  of  the  whole 
together :  each  day  commanded  by  S.  W.  Be  assured, 
my  dearest  brother,  they  shall  not  see  the  like  in  India. 
Imagine  to  yourself  with  what  delight  I  shall  ride  my 
favourite  hobby.' 

'  Meerut,  Ibth  November. — I  am  occupied  from  morn 
till  eve,  and  delighted  with  my  new  situation.  My  health 
is  perfect.' 

'-  Meerut^  \st  December '---[hi.  \]i\^  letter  he  explains  his 
anxious  desire  to  have  his  command,  which  would  be  com- 
pleted on  the  26th  January,  1833,  prolonged  to  the  26th 
January,  1836,  giving  various  reasons :  his  desire  to  see 
his  civil  and  military  sons,  soon  about  to  embark  on  their 
careers,  around  him,  and  his  behef  that  the  expected 
demise  of  Eunjeet  Singh,  would  at  last  give  him  that 
active  command  in  the  field  at  the  head  of  British  troops 
which  was  now  the  great  object  of  his  zeal  and  labours. 
He  continues] — '  To  be  called  away  from  the  field  just  at 
the  moment  of  commencing  operations  would  absolutely 
break  my  heart.  I  entreat  you  therefore,  dearest  brother, 
to  use  every  infiuence  in  your  [power]  to  obtain  this  boon 
for  me,  and  be  assured  of  my  eternal  gratitude.*  The 
late  brevet  has  doubled  my  chance  of  a  high  command, 
should  the  troops  take  the  field,  and  made  me  a  thousand 
times  more  anxious  to  remain  at  my  present  post.  The 
Duke  of  Wellington  would  perhaps  listen  to  the  suppli- 
cation of  an  officer  who  has  had  the  honour  of  serving 
under  him.' 

*  The  influence  of  Mr.  Davis,  the  Conservative  Member  of  Bristol,  soon 
about  to  vanish  under  the  crash  of  the  great  Reform  Bill;  was  at  this  time 
very  considerable  with  the  Ministers. 


ANXIETY   FOR   PROLONGED   COMMAND.  369 

Well  would  it  be  if  parliamentary  interest  were  never 
exerted  in  a  worse  cause  than  in  endeavouring  to  give 
to  a  brave,  zealous  and  skilful  officer  an  opportunity  of 
actively  serving  his  country  !  Providence  alone  can  fur- 
nish the  desired  opportunity ;  but  the  hope  may  always 
exist  and  thus  keep  active  and  able  minds,  so  long  as 
life  and  strength  are  granted,  from  stagnation  and  fatal 
despair. 


B  B 


370  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 


CHAPTER  XVIIl. 

1831. 

VISITS  OF  THE  EARL  OE  DALHOUSIE,  AND  OF  LORD  WILLIAM  BENTINCK — 
THE  DUKE  OF  WELLINGTON'S  REPEATED  OBSERVATION  TO  MR.  HART  DAVIS 
REGARDING  GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM — WHOLLY  ADOPTED  AND  REJOICED 
IN  BY  LORD  WILLIAM  BENTINCK — THE  DUKE's  DECLARATION  AGAINST 
REFORM — THE  DUKE'S  LOSS  OF  OFFICE  INJURIOUS  TO  SIR  SAMFORD — 
THE  RIVAL  CHAMPAGNES— A  CANDID  NOBLE  SPORTSMAN — LIEUTENANT 
(now  sir  henry)  DURAND — ONE  OF  THE  DUKE'S  LAST  OFFICIAL  ACTS — 
LORD  WILLIAM  BENTINCK'S  OPINION  OP  DANIEL  O'CONNELL — HIS  CON- 
FIDENCE IN  HIS  COUNTRYMEN — A  CHARACTERISTIC  LETTER  BY  ^  THE 
duke' — LORD   hill's   OPINION   OF   SIR  SAMFORD. 

How  Lord  Combermere  would  have  been  recalled,  had 
he  not  resigned,  has  been  explamed  in  his  Memoirs,  by 
Lady  Combermere  and  Captain  Knollys.  He  opposed 
himself  to  those  retrenchments  in  military  expenditure,  to 
which  Lord  William  Bentinck  was  pledged,  and  which 
the  then  peaceful  aspect  of  affairs  facilitated. 

We  continue  the  extracts  from  the  fraternal  corre- 
spondence. 

'  Meerut,  29th  January,  1831. — Your  dear  letter  of  the 
28th  July,  with  extracts  from  the  newspapers,  relative  to 
your  election  at  Bristol  reached  me  yesterday,  and  gave 
me  greater  pleasure  than  I  have  words  to  express.  It 
is  most  delightful  to  see  the  constant,  and  warm,  and  firm 
attachment  of  your  friends  at  Bristol ;  because  that  feel- 
ing arises  from  the  fullest  conviction  of  your  merits,  and 
not  from  the  feasting  system,  which  so  greatly  captivates 
John  Bull.  By  doing  your  duty  ably,  punctually  and 
graciously,  you  have  conciliated  all  the  amours  propres 


VISITS   OF   LORDS   DALHOUSIE   AND   BENTINCK.  371 

in  your  favour,  and  you  have  admirably  preserved  your 
own  dignity,  without  neglecting  the  humblest  of  your  con- 
stituents.' 

'  Meerut,  10th  February. — What  a  magnificent  triumph 
you  have  obtained  my  dearest  brother  1  *  As  far  as  honour 
can  confer  happiness,  we  have  abundant  reason  to  be  satis- 
fied. It  would  not  be  reasonable  to  expect  all  the  good 
things  of  life  together.  Lord  Dalhousie  will  be  here  on 
the  20th,  remain  here  21st  and  22nd,  and  leave  on  the 
23rd.  Lord  William  will  arrive  on  the  24th,  and  go  from 
hence  to  Hurdwar,  whither  I  shall  accompany  him  as  well 
as  to  the  hills  of  Landour.  I  hope  to  show  both  their 
Lordships  first-rate  specimens  of  cavalry  and  artillery. 
My  infantry  is  broken  up  for  the  season  by  the  departure 
of  the  31st  Eegiment  for  Kurnaul.  But  next  cold  weather 
I  hope  to  give  them  some  line  movements.' 

The  letters  recording  Lord  Dalhousie's  visit  are  not 
extant,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  all  passed  off  satisfac- 
torily. Sir  Samford  accompanied  Lord  William  Bentinck 
to  the  Mussourie  hills ;  and  whilst  there  he  received  the 
following  convincing  proof  that  his  constant  exile  had  not 
obliterated  him  or  his  services  from  the  memory  of  the 
greatest  of  Englishmen  : — 

Bichard  Hart  Davis,  M.P.  to  Sir  Samford  WJiittingham, 

(Extract.) 

'  [38]  t  Conduit  Street  [Hanoter  Square], 

'  28th  Sepfetnber,  1830. 

'  I  delayed  writing  for  a  day  or  two  expecting  to  have 
a  communication  from  the  Duke  of  Wellington  respect- 
ing your  regiment.  This  has  taken  place  ;  and  what  will 
dehght  you  above  the  hopes  of  having  the  regiment  soon, 
is  the  observation  which  the  Duke  made  "  that  we  had  not 
such  another  officer  in  the  army,''  as  yourself,  "  and  that 

*  Mr.  Davis,  unable  to  bear  the  expenses  of  an  election^  bad  again  been 
returned  in  1830  at  the  expense  of  his  constituents. 

t  Then  a  handsome  private  house  j  now  a  tailor's  shop. 

B    B   2 


372  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

you  ought  to  liave  a  Eegiment,  and  that  you  should  have 

one  quickly." 

'  I  forgot  to  say  that  the  Duke  of  Wellington  twice  re- 
peated "  that  we  had  not  such  another  officer  in  the  army  " 
as  yourself.' 

Mr.  Davis's  letter  having  reached  Sir  Samford  whilst 
he  was  in  the  camp  of  the  Governor-General,  he  at  once 
sent  it  on  to  Lord  William,  evincing  thereby  much  confi- 
dence in  the  generosity  of  the  latter,  considering  the  great 
military  seniority  of  his  Lordship,  under  whose  command- 
in- chief  he  had  served  in  the  Peninsula. 

The  following  was  the  truly  magnanimous  as  well  as 
kind  reply  of  that  distinguished  nobleman  ; — 

Lord  William  Bentinch  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

'CamP;  20^A  March,  1831. 

'  My  dear  Sir  Sam.  P.  {sic) — It  would  be  paying  you  a 
poor  compliment  to  apply  the  same  comparison  in  refer- 
ence to  this  Presidency,  as  the  greatest  of  all  authorities, 
in  a  manner  so  exceedingly  gratifying,  has  made  in  your 
favour  in  respect  to  the  army  at  large.  In  fact  no  other 
officer  has  had  the  same  large  means  and  varied  oppor- 
tunities of  improving  his  own  military  talents,  and  of 
employing  them  for  the  benefit  of  his  country.  /  wholly 
adopt  the  Duke's  sentiments^  rejoicing  and  proud  of  them 
as  an  old  friend^  and  delighted  moreover  in  having  the 
henejit  of  those  services  in  a  country  where  they  are  so  much 

wanted.     May  they  long  he  continued  in  India.^ 

'  Ever,  my  dear  Sir  Samford, 

'  Most  sincerely  yours, 

'  W.  Bentinck.' 

This  flattering  letter  emboldened  Sir  Samford  to  re- 
quest his  Lordship's  kind  aid  with  Lord  Ellenborough, 

•  Thus  the  liberal  Lord  William,  emulated  the  generosity  of  the  con- 
m-vative  Sir  Edward  Paget's  striking  letter  to  Lord  Bathurst  (see  page  340). 


LETTER   FROM   LORD   WILLIAM   BENTINCK.  373 

then  President  of  the  Board  of  Control,  to  procure  the 
prolongation  of  his  eommand  in  India.  Lord  William 
replied  as  follows  : — 

'  Camp,  2^rd  Marchj  1831. 

'  My  dear  Sir  S.  Ford, — When  you  have  such  a  friend 
in  the  Chief,*  any  interference  on  the  part  of  myself  or  of 
Lord  Ellenborough,  were  he  ever  so  well  disposed  to  give 
effect  to  my  wishes,  seems  useless ;  but  the  letter,  as  you 
desire,  shall  be  sent  to  Lord  E.,  and  dispatched  by  this 
day's  dak.     I  hope  it  may  be  of  more  use  than  I  expect. 

'  Ever  sincerely  yours, 

'W.  Bentinck.' 

Lord  Wilham  appears  to  have  continued  his  tour  soon 
after  the  above,  whilst  Sir  Samford  returned  to  Meerut. 
He  now  uses  the  word  '  Samford '  instead  of  '  S.  Ford '  in 
his  next  letter  to  Sir  S.  Whittingham  : — 

From  Lord  William  Bentinck. 

(Extract.) 

'Camp  Eikjoar,  6th  April,  1831. 

'  My  dear  Sir  Samford, — I  have  to  thank  you  for  your 
letters  of  the  31st,  and  2nd  April 

'  I  have  received  from  Lord  Clare  a  file  of  ''Galignani," 
from  the  beginning  of  November  to  the  11th  December. 
These  I  have  sent  to  Lord  Dalhousie.  The  only  three 
English  papers  I  received  are  herewith  transmitted.  I 
have  no  copy  of  the  King's  speech  at  the  meeting  of 
Parliament :  but  I  see  by  the  papers  that  it  contained 
a  strong  declaration  against  Eeform,  which  had  made  the 
Duke  extremely  unpopular.  There  seems  to  be  little 
doubt,  that  had  the  King  gone  to  the  Lord  Mayor's 
dinner—the  intention  having  been  abandoned  only  the 
day  before — there  would  have  followed  great  tumults.  T 
have  a  letter  from  Lord  Clare,  dated  Bombay,  20th  March, 
in  which  he  says  :  '  You  will  have  been  as  mucli  surprised 

♦  The  Duke  of  Welliogton. 


374  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

as  I  was  to  hear  of  the  change  in  the  English  adminis- 
tration. Before  I  left  London  on  the  8th  September,  it 
was  known  that  the  elections  had  gone  against  the  Duke's 
friends ;  and  as  it  was  believed  he  intended  to  meet  Par- 
liament without  any  accession  of  strength  to  his  Govern- 
ment, so  the  stability  of  it  was  very  generally  doubted.' 

'  The  D.  of  Northumberland  has  resigned  the  Blues  and 
is  succeeded  by  Lord  Hill.  I  should  think  the  D[uke  of 
Wellington]  will  return  to  his  command  of  the  army.  He 
and  Lord  Grey  were  always  well  together,  and  as  I  have 
heard,  nothing  but  the  late  King's  positive  refusal  pre- 
vented the  D.  from  taking  him  into  his  cabinet.  In  the 
Duke's  case  I  would  not  take  the  command.  It  would  be 
a  false  position.  A  rival  having  the  ear  of  his  Sovereign 
would  be  suspected,  let  his  honour  and  integrity  be  ever 
so  undoubted. 

'  Sir  Edward  Paget,  and  Sir  Willoughby  Gordon  are 
variously  stated  as  Master-General  of  the  Ordnance ;  the 
former  is  the  most  likely,  Lord  Anglesea  *  {sic)  having 
accepted  the  Lord-Lieutenancy  of  Ireland. 

'  Sincerely  yours, 

'  W.  Bentinck.' 

The  removal  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington  from  power, 
as  he  did  not  revert  to  Commander-in-Chief,  was  a  great 
blow  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  pledged  as  his  Grace 
was  to  give  him  an  early  regiment. 

The  following  anecdote  being  familiar  to  the  Editor  of 
this  work,  and  again  lately  confirmed  by  two  surviving 
witnesses,  exemplifies  the  excellence  of  Sir  Samford  Whit- 
tingham's  dinners,  especially  the  wines.  In  this  he  had 
formed  a  great  contrast  to  one  exalted  official  who  on  his 
tours  of  inspection  was  mainly  indebted  to  the  guns  of 
his  Staff  and  of  Captain  Caine  for  eking  out  his  scantily 
supplied  table.     But  this  observation  by  no  means  applies 

*  The  '  Peerages '  have  Anglesey ,  not  Anglesea. 


THE   CHAMPAGNE    QUESTION.  375 

to  Lord  and  Lady  William  Bentinck,  who  always  gave 
excellent  dinners.  It  was  about  this  period  that  Lord 
William  invited  Sir  Samford  to  dinner  expressly  that  he 
might  taste  some  superior  champagne,  which  had  been 
sent  as  a  present  to  Lord  William  by  his  good  friend  Louis 
Philippe,  King  of  the  French.  Now  the  General  had  long 
obtained  all  his  French  wines  direct  from  France,  where 
they  were  selected  by  his  old  friend  Count  Turenne,  for- 
merly employed  in  the  household  of  the  great  Napoleon. 
When  his  Lordship  asked  Sir  Samford's  opinion  of  the 
citizen  King's  wine,  he  replied,  that  he  would  give  him 
better  if  his  Lordship  would  honour  him  with  his  company 
to  dinner. 

Soon  after  this,  Lady  William  Bentinck  gave  a  station 
ball  at  Meerut,  and  borrowed  for  the  purpose  the  officers 
of  the  artillery's  mess-house.  At  the  same  time,  that  she 
might  have  leisure  to  superintend  the  preparations,  her 
Ladyship  desired  to  escape  the  trouble  of  having  to  pro- 
vide the  same  evening  the  dinner  of  her  Lord  and  his 
Staff,  and  she  therefore  requested  Sir  Samford  to  take  this 
opportunity  of  setthng  the  disputed  champagne  question. 
There  had  been  much  previous  joking,  and  Lord  and 
Lady  Bentinck  were  both  certain  that  it  was  impossible 
to  surpass  the  wines  of  French  royalty. 

The  dinner  took  place  accordingly.  Amongst  the  guests 
were  Doctor  and  Mrs.  Magrath,  the  latter  of  whom  is  now 
a  widow,  residing  in  London.  To  the  good-humoured 
discomfiture  of  the  Governor-General,  even  his  own  Staff 
awarded  the  palm  to  Sir  Samford's  wine,  nor  did  his 
Lordship  himself  impeach  the  verdict.  His  Staff  had  not 
always  been  so  candid.  On  one  occasion  when  they  were 
attending  Lord  William  out  tiger  shooting,  an  enraged 
tiger  sprang  on  his  Lordship's  elephant,  when  the  unerr- 
ing gun  of  Captain  Caine  (who  was  of  the  party)  came  to 
the  rescue  and  disabled  the  animal.  His  Lordship,  who 
had  been  cool  and  calm  to  an  exemplary  degree,  now 


376     •  MEMOIR  OF  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

gave  the  finishing  shot.  The  moment  the  beast  fell,  the 
officers  of  the  Staff  shouted  out  '  The  Lord  done  it,  the 
Lord  done  it ! '  *  But  Lord  WilHam  quickly  replied  : 
'  No  !  Captain  Caine,  luckily  for  me,  killed  him,  and  I  by 
no  means  liked  the  unpleasant  predicament  in  which  I 
was  placed.' 

In  a  letter  to  Lord  William  Bentinck,  dated  Mussourie, 
25th  July,  1831,  Sir  Samford  encloses  a  plan  of  the  chain 
of  heights  upon  which  Thannah  Toongra  is  situated,  drawn 
by  Lieutenant  Durand  of  the  Bengal  Engineers.  Before 
entering  into  the  details.  Sir  Samford  calls  his  Lordship's 
attention  to  the  very  able  manner  in  which  Lieutenant 
Durand  had  executed  the  plan  of  the  ground. 

This  able  officer  thus  specially  brought  to  the  notice  of 
the  Governor-General,  is  now  the  well-known  Sir  Henry 
Durand,  who  blew  up  the  gates  of  Ghuznee  in  1839,  and 
whom,  as  a  member  of  the  Supreme  Council  in  India,  Sir 
John  Lawrence,  the  present  Viceroy  of  India,  invested  at 
Simla  on  the  Queen's  birthday  in  1867,  with  the  Knight- 
Commandership  of  the  Star  of  India,  accompanied  by  an 
eloquent  panegyric  on  his  past  services. 

To  explain  the  next  letter,  the  reader  must  know  that 
Sir  Samford's  eldest  son  had,  by  the  deaths  of  certain 
gentlemen,  lost  two  successive  nominations  to  Bengal 
writerships,  which  was  a  grievous  disappointment  to  his 
father,  after  the  special  and  expensive  education  which 
he  had  received  to  fit  him  for  the  appointment.  One  of 
the  great  Duke's  last  official  acts  was  to  give  to  Sir  Sam- 
ford's  son,  through  Mr.  Davis,  the  only  appointment  of  the 
kind  left  in  his  gift,  but  which  unfortunately  was  a  Madras 
instead  of  a  Bengal  writership  ;  so  that  the  father  could 
no  longer  cherish  the  hope  which  had  long  cheered  him, 
of  ushering  his  son  into  civil  official  life  under  his  own 

*  When  Governor-Generals,  or  minor  Indian  Governors  vrere  noblemen, 
their  Staff",  usually  spoke  of  them  as  *  The  Lord.^  It  certainly  was  done  at 
Madras  less  than  30  years  ago,  as  the  Editor  can  testify. 


OPINION   OF   DANIEL   O'CONNELL.  377 

eye,  and  with  the  immediate  and  powerful  protection  of 
the  good  and  great  Lord  William  Bentinck : — 

From  Lord  William  Bentinck. 

(Extract.) 

'  Simla,  18th  April,  laSl. 

'  My  dear  Sir  S.  Ford, — Thanks  for  yours  of  the  28th. 
I  am  glad  of  your  success  in  the  writership  ;  and  I  hope 
you  may  have  the  same  good  luck  as  to  the  Staff.  The 
artillery  report  is  very  satisfactory;  and  not  less  so  that  of 
Thanna  Toongra.  Two  days'  march  will  bring  it  within 
convenient  distance  of  the  plains.  The  state  of  England 
itself  is  represented  by  all  letters  as  very  perilous.  O'Con- 
nell  seems  determined  to  produce  an  insurrection  in  Ire- 
land, of  which  I  trust  he  may  be  the  first  victim.^  I 
have  before  seen  a  union  of  protestants  and  catholics,  as 
is  the  case  at  present.  But  it  was  then,  as  it  will  be  now, 
of  short  duration  ;  and  the  old  feud  and  animosities  [will] 
prevail  over  those  which  O'Connell  may  endeavour  to 
arouse  against  the  English  connection.  Catholic,  a  patriot 
and  a  man  and  religion,  was  a  much  more  popular  banner 
than  the  repeal  of  the  Union  can  ever  be.' 

From  the  Same. 

(Extract.) 

<  Simla,  2Qth  Septemher,  1831. 

'My  dear  Sir  S.  F. — I  thank  you  for  the  interesting 
extract  from  H.  Davis's  letter.  The  transaction  is  in  its 
results  more  honourable  to  liim  than  a  successful  election. 
It  shows  the  force  and  the  power  of  the  prevailing  feeling. 
The  Government  henceforth  will  be  directed  by  a  Eepub- 
lican  influence,  little  under  the  constraint  of  that  which 
has  hitherto  mainly  directed  the  councils  of  the  country ; 
namely  the  aristocracy  and  clergy.  I  think  we  could  not 
have  gone  on  without  great  changes,  to  which  these  latter 

*  It  is  curious  to  see  how  frightened  even  some  Liberal  Whi«»-e  were 
then,  of  the  democratic  spirit  they  had  helped  to  raise. 


378  MEMOIR  OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGIIAM. 

interests  would  never  have  consented.  Whether  those 
that  will  be  brought  about  by  the  former,  may  not  greatly 
outstep  the  just  limits  of  our  wants,  is  another  question, 
which  time  alone  can  solve.  My  confidence  has  always 
been  in  the  united  sense  and  courage  of  the  country,  and, 
as  the  experience  of  near  forty  years'  actual  intercourse 
with  mankind  has  led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is 
now  infinitely  more  knowledge  and  morality,  than  in  my 
younger  days,  so  I  cling  with  confidence  to  a  rather 
favourite  maxim  with  me.  Nil  desperandum.  I  believe 
that  all  we  see  going  on  in  England  and  Europe  will 
combine  to  the  eminent  good  of  the  human  race.  To 
those  who  have  the  most  wisdom  and  firmness,  these 
benefits  will  the  earlier  come.  To  the  rest,  who,  for  no 
fault  of  their  own,  but  from  bad  government,  have  been 
sunk  under  all  the  evils  of  ignorance,  superstition,  and 
immorality,  they,  like  the  Eepublics  of  S.  America,  will 
have  to  go  through  all  kinds  of  suffering,  before  they 
reach  the  goal.  This  is  a  cruel  dispensation  of  provi- 
dence in  appearance,  but  so  it  is  in  fact,  and  probably 
or  rather  certainly  for  the  very  best  reasons,  could  our 
hmited  faculties  dive  into  these  great  mysteries. 

'  I  send  herewith  a  book,  in  which  your  first  intro- 
duction upon  the  military  stage  of  the  Peninsula  is  flat- 
teringly mentioned.  It  is  probable  that  you  will  not  have 
seen  it*     .... 

'  Yours  sincerely, 

'  W.  Bentinck.' 

The  following  letter  is  truly  characteristic  of  its 
writer  : — 

The  Duke  of  Wellington  to  Mr.  Davis. 

'  London,  lUh  August,  1831. 

'My  dear  Sir, — I  return  the  enclosed  letter.  I  know 
that  there  is  a  positive  rule  at  the  Horse-Guards  that  a 

*  The  Editor  will  be  greatly  obliged  to  any  per3on  wlio  can  inform  him 
of  the  title  of  this  book,  apparently  published  in  1831, 


LORD   hill's   OPIIslON   OF   SIR  SAMFORD.  379 

geneml  officer  shall  not  be  employed  on  the  Staff  more 
than  six  years.  I  have  carried  this  rule  into  execution, 
and  so  has  my  successor.  I  can  have  no  objection  to  his 
departure  from  it ;  but  I  am  convinced  that  you  will  see 
that  I  cannot  with  propriety  make  myself  the  solicitor  for 
such  a  departure.  I  hope  that  you  will  excuse  me,  and 
will  not  ask  me  to  take  a  course  so  inconsistent  with  what 
is  the  line  of  my  duty. 

'  Believe  me,  yours  most  sincerely, 

'  Wellington.' 

'H.  Hart  Davis,  Esq., 

'  Conduit  Street.' 

On  the  21st  December  of  same  year,  Lord  Hill  wrote 
officially  to  the  same  effect  to  Lord  Ellenborough,  who 
transmitted  the  decision  to  Lord  William  Bentinck.  In 
his  letter  Lord  Hill  who  had  never  met  General  Whit- 
tingham  in  Spain,  nor  had  ever  been  in  communication 
with  him  there,  yet,  writes  :  '  I  entertain  a  very  high 
opinion  of  Sir  S.  Whittingham,  and  believe  him  to  be 
fully  entitled  to  the  encomiums  passed  upon  him  by  Lord 
William  Bentinck.' 


380  MEMOIR  OF   Sm   S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 


CHAPTEE  XIX. 

1832. 

MTJSSOITRIE— CHIEFS  AT  SIMLA,  WITS  THEIH  RESPECTIVE  STAEES— SIR 
EDWAED  BAENES — BAD  HANDWEITING  NO  PEOOF  OF  GEEATNESS— LOED 
WILLIAM     ON     THE     EOYAL     DISCEETION — SIE     EDWAED     BAENES— THE 

commandee-in-chief's   death   waeeant — THE    duke's    dictum    ON 

THE  DISAGEEEMENT  OF  INDIAN  CHIEFS — LADY  WILLIAM  BENTINGK — 
injustice  of  NAPIEE'S  EAELIEST  VOLUMES — THE  NON-PUBLICATION  OP 
THE  '  WELLINGTON  DISPATCHES  '  AN  INSUFFICIENT  EXCUSE — THE  BAE- 
EOSA  INJUSTICE  —  COLONEL  CAINE's  EECOLLECTIONS  —  SIE  SAMFOED 
WEITES   TO   SIE  EDWAED   PAGET   FOE  EEDEESS   AND   SATISFACTION. 

The  extracts  from  private  letters  to  his  brotlier-in-law 
must,  from  the  limited  space  left,  be  henceforth  fewer 
and  briefer  than  hitherto  : — 

'  Mussourie,  Uli  May^  1832. — I  have  been  up  on  these 
delightful  hills  nearly  a  fortnight.  We  are  now  nearly 
in  the  hottest  season  of  the  year,  and  the  thermome- 
ter ranges  in  the  house  from  66°  to  68° !  Lord  and 
Lady  William  Bentinck,  Sir  Edward  and  Lady  Barnes,* 
and  their  respective  Staffs,  are  all  at  Simla,  enjoying  the 
climate  as  much  as  I  do.  How  much  I  wish  the  consent 
of  the  directors  may  be  obtained  to  the  building  of  bar- 
racks for  one  King's  Eegiment  at  Thannah  Toongra  and 
at  Dumoultrie.' 

'  Mussourie,  22nd  June. — I  send  you  a  plan  of  the 
house,  garden,  and  fields  at  Meerut.  The  house  is  one  of 
the  best  built  houses  in  India,  and  the  garden  produces, 
in  the  greatest  abundance,  strawberries,  peaches,  grapes, 

*  Sir  Edward  Barnes  succeeded  Lord  Balhousie  as  Commander-in-Cliief 
(See  Appendix  E.) 


BAD  HANDWRITING  NO  PROOF  OF  GREATNESS.   381 

apples,  pears,  and  all  sorts  of  vegetables.  The  oat-field 
produces  oats  for  twelve  horses.  The  whole  extent  of 
the  ground  is  about  twenty  acres.  Lord  Dalhousie  was 
particularly  pleased  with  the  beauty  and  comfort  of  the 
house  and  all  its  appurtenances.' 

'  Mussourie,  1th  Jidy. — Education  and  experience  will 
form  any  man  to  all  the  duties  of  our  noble  profession, 
with  one  solitary  exception.  The  Commander-in-Chief 
must  be  formed  by  nature.  Such  men  as  our  immortal 
Duke  are  born,  like  poets,  and  not  made.  Everything 
short  of  that  highest  pinnacle  of  glory  is  to  be  acquired 
by  a  strong  and  determined  resolution  to  neglect  nothing 
connected  with  our  duty ;  and  that  duty  we  shall  never 
neglect,  if  we  constantly  keep  in  mind  that  the  lives  of 
thousands  may  become  the  sacrifice  of  either  ignorance 
or  indifference  on  our  part ! 

'  Because  some  of  the  greatest  men  have  had  the  mis- 
fortune to  write  very  ill,  many  silly  dandies  have  had 
the  weakness  to  try  to  imitate  them.  They  might  as  well 
fancy  they  w^ere  imitating  the  greatness  of  Alexander  by 
getting  drunk.'* 

'  Mussourie,  20th  September. — What  I  most  desire  is 
always  to  be  employed  somewhere.  Once  laid  upon  the 
shelf,  and  a  man  is  lost.  My  health  is  so  perfect  in  this 
delightful  climate,  that  I  walk  from  five  to  six  miles  every 
morning,  and  ride  from  ten  to  twelve  every  evening. 
Business  and  general  reading  employ  the  rest  of  the  day. 
1  always  dress  by  candle-light,  and  am  generally  out  of 
the  house  soon  after  five  [a.m.]  My  occupation  at  Meerut, 
during  the  cold  season,  will  be  incessant.  Ten  squadrons 
of  cavalry,  and  twelve  pieces  of  horse-artillery,  will  en- 
able me  to  give  Sir  Edward  Barnes  some  good  reviews. 
And  by  the  time  he  returns  from  Lucknow  I  shall  have 
four   battalions   of  infantry  ready  for  him,  which  will 

*  This  general  remark  was  appended  to  some  strong  criticisms  upon  the 
penmanship  of  one  of  his  sons. 


382  MEMOIR    OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

enable  me  to  give  him  some  field-days  of  tlie  three  arms 
together.' 

From  a  letter  from  Lord  William,  dated  '  Simla,  21st 
October,  1832,'  his  Lordship  expected  to  meet  Sir  Sam- 
ford  at  Delhi,  soon,  and  probably  did  so ;  but  no  letters 
of  the  period  are  at  hand. 

Lord  William  Bentinch  to  Sir  S.  Whittingham. 

(Extract.) 

^  GwALiOB,  10^/i  Dcce^nher,  1832. 

'  I  have  letters  to-day  of  an  old  date  (June)  from  Eng- 
land. They  speak,  like  their  predecessors,  gloomily  of 
affairs  present  and  in  prospect ;  and  of  the  loss  of  respect 
which  our  institutions  have  suffered.  One  tells  us  that  we 
must  expect  to  find  England  Americanized  by  our  return. 
The  King  is  said  to  dislike  very  much  his  Whig  ministers, 
as  I  supposed.  I  never  saw  this  so  directly  stated  before. 
It  cannot  be  otherwise.  I  fear  he  has  neither  discretion 
nor  silence  to  get  well  through  the  difficulties  with  which 
he  is  beset,  and  much  imprudence  may  compromize  the 
very  throne  itself.  I  hope  you  have  succeeded  with  your 
cavalry  plan. 

'  Ever  sincerely  yours, 

'  W.  Bentinck.' 

[P.S.]  '  Since  I  saw  you,  your  Chief's  new  order  about 
King's  commissions  has  appeared.  Unless  he  has  great 
luck,  and  great  protection,  that  order  may  prove  his  death 
warrant.' 

This  postscript  reminds  the  Editor  of  an  appropriate 
anecdote,  which  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  often  narrated. 
A  certain  Commander-in-Chief,  very  fortunate,  but  not  of 
the  very  highest  mental  calibre,  propounded  to  the  Duke 
of  Wellington  this  important  question,  before  saihng  for 
his  new  command  :  '  Supposing  that  the  Governor-General 
and  I  should  not  agree,  what  would  happen  ?  '     To  which 


THE  DUKE  ON  THE  DISAGREEMENTS  OF  INDIAN  CHIEFS.  383 

liis  Grace  quietly  and  deliberately  replied  :  '  If  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief and  the  Governor-General  were  to  dis- 
agree, one  of  the  two  would  go  to  the  wall.  I  leave  you 
to.  decide  which  of  the  two  that  would  be ! ' 

The  General  is  said  to  have  retired  quite  dumb- 
founded. 

Lady  William  Bentinck,  one  of  the  best  and  most 
amiable  of  ladies,  also  occasionally  corresponded  with 
Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  who  from  his  almost  Quixote- 
like pure  and  chivalrous  feelings,  manner,  and  conduct 
towards  all  the  fair  sex,  was  naturally  rewarded  by  uni- 
versal popularity  in  that  quarter.  But  limited  space  for- 
bids entering  into  such  matters. 

We  come  now  to  the  greatest  trial  of  Sir  Samford  Whit- 
tingham's  long  and  arduous  career.  Although  he  had 
been  far  from  being  what  could  be  called  one  of  For- 
tune's favourites,  and  had  had  to  work  his  way  against 
great  difficulties  to  the  distinction  which  he  had  acquired, 
yet  that  distinction  in  1831  had  been  very  great  and  very 
gratifying  to  his  feelings.  That  the  great  Duke  had  not 
forgotten  his  merits,  more  than  confirming  by  words  what 
he  had,  sixteen  years  earlier,  declared  in  writing;  and  that 
Lord  William  Bentinck,  his  former  Commander,  and  pre- 
sent ruler  of  India,  should  in  writing  have  confirmed  and 
adopted  the  great  Duke's  opinion,  were  priceless  honours 
calculated  to  turn  the  head  of  their  recipient.  Perhaps, 
therefore,  it  was  as  a  lesson  of  humility,  that  Providence 
within  a  twelvemonth  of  vouchsafing  the  honours,  de- 
livered on  the  General's  head  its  severest  blow,  or  at  least 
permitted  its  infliction. 

Of  all  the  readers  of  '  Napier's  History,'  probably  not 
one  sat  down  to  peruse  it  for  the  first  time  with  greater 
interest  and  pleasure  than  the  subject  of  this  Memoir. 
Certainly,  very  few  were  as  capable,  by  natural  and 
acquired  military  talent,  and  by  ardent  military  zeal,  to 
appreciate  and  relish  its  great  merits.     The  volumes  of 


384  MEMOIR   OF  SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

that  work  came  out  one  by  one,  and  already  when  the 
two  first  were  out,  it  was  evident  how  little  justice  General 
Whittingham  could  expect  from  that  brilliant  but  preju- 
diced writer. 

True  it  is  that  ignorance  might  partly  account  for  the 
injustice.  The  greater  part  of  the  '  Duke's  Dispatches ' 
were  still  sealed  to  the  public,  and  their  use  was  refused 
to  Colonel  Napier,  unfortunately,  probably,  for  the  cause 
of  truth  and  impartial  justice.  But  this  was  only  a  partial 
excuse.  The  dispatches  of  victory  had  been  pubhshed  in 
the  '  Gazettes,'  and  these  at  least  might  have  been  quoted 
as  the  best  authority  for  history.  The  first  man  of  the 
age  had  given  in  his  '  Talavera  Dispatch '  an  honourable 
place  to  Brigadier-General  Whittingham,  mentioning  both 
his  wound  and  the  fact  of  its  being  received  whilst  leading 
two  battalions  of  Spaniards  into  action.  Not  the  slightest 
allusion  to  either  of  these  facts  did  '  Napier's  History ' 
make !  Such  was  the  justice  of  the  man,  whose  third 
volume,  (the  first  edition  of  which  came  out  in  1831), 
with  his  account  of  the  battle  of  Barrosa,  must  have  been 
seen  by  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  at  Meerut  in  the  early 
part  of  1832.  Captain  (now  Colonel)  Caine  remembers 
the  extreme  indignation  with  which  the  General  came  to 
his  aide-de-camp's  room  to  point  out  what  he  then  con- 
sidered to  be  a  vile  calumny.  And  though  he  afterwards 
modified  his  opinion,  his  first  judgment  was  not  far  wrong, 
if  a  fact  true  in  itself  may  be  so  unfairly  stated  as  to  leave 
a  calumnious  impression  on  the  reader,  which  was  certainly 
applicable  to  Napier's  description. 

But  the  absent  are  always  in  the  wrong.  And  General 
Whittingham  was  not  only  absent,  but  separated  from  all 
those  documents  the  study  of  which  proves  him  free  of 
blame,  and  confirms  the  Duke  of  Wellington's  repeatedly 
expressed  opinions  of  his  merits  and  services. 


AX   INAUSPICIOUS   DAY.  385 


CHAPTEE  XX. 

1833—1835. 

AN  INAUSPICIOUS  DAY — SIB,  FREDEKICK  ADAM,  GOVERNOR  OF  MADRAS — 
'LES  absents  ONT  TOUJOURS  tort' — A  RECKLESS  RIDER — A  GENERAL 
CALLS  OUT  AN  ENSIGN — AN  UNEXPECTED  BROAD  FRONT — CRUEL  ONLY 
TO  BE  KIND — LORD  WILLIAM  BENTINCK's  COMMENTS  ON  THE  DUEL — THE 
GOVERNOR-GENERAL  APPOINTED  COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF — APPLICATION 
FOR  THE  MILITARY  SECRETARYSHIP — SIR  SAMFORD's  VALUE  TO  LORD 
WILLIAM — A  VERY  HARD  CASE — COLONEL  NAPIER'S  STATEMENT  TOO 
FAVOURABLY  JUDGED  BY  ITS  VICTIM — SIR  SAMFORD  UNJUST  TO  HIMSELF 
— AN  OFFICIAL  LETTER  ON  BROKEN  PROMISES — FIRST  MEETING  SINCE 
CHILDHOOD  OF  FATHER  AND  SON — THE  NILGHERRY  HILLS — SIR  EDWARD 
PAGET  AKD  THE  '  UNITED  SERVICE  JOURNAL  ' — LORD  WILLIAM's  CON- 
FIDENCE IN  GENERAL  WHITTINGHAM — BABINGTON  MACAULAY,  MEMBER 
OF  COUNCIL — SIR  SAMFORD's  ADMIRATION  FOR  THE  PRUSSIAN  MILITARY 
SYSTEM — REQUESTS  SIR  EDWARD  TO  BE  HIS  SECOND  IN  A  DUEL  WITH 
COLONEL  NAPIER — SAILS   FOR  ENGLAND   IN   THE   '  CURA^OA.' 

Lord  William  Bentinck  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingharn. 

(Extract.) 

'  Calcutta,  '2lst  March,  1833. 
'  I  HEAR  that  our  Commander-in-  Chief  returns  to  Simla 
on  the  1st  of  April,  (an  inauspicious  day)  but  I  doubt 
whether  his  preceding  discussion  can  be  so  soon  brought 
to  a  close.  I  am  happy  to  say  that  so  far  our  councils 
have  passed  off  with  great  harmony  :  and  all  that  has 
happened  would  never  have  occurred,  had  we  started  all 
together  in  council,  where  he  would  better  have  under- 
stood the  business  of  the  Government,  and  the  absence 
of  all  disposition  on  our  parts  to  trench  upon  his  just 
authority.  His  ignorance  of  all  these  matters,  and  his 
unwillingness  to  be  informed  by  those  about  him  here  led 
him  'into  much  present  annoyance,  and  possibly  to  very 
unpleasant  future  consequences.' 

c  c 


386  MEMOIR   OF   Sm   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

Sir  Samford  wrote  this  year  a  '  Memoir  on  the  Com- 
petency of  the  Bengal  Army,'  which  bears  tlie  date  of 
'Meerut,  22nd  February,  1833.'  Its  more  appropriate 
title  would  have  been :  '  The  Present  Military  and  Poli- 
tical State  of  Bengal  and  its  Future  Prospects'  There  is 
no  space  to  touch  on  this  pamphlet,  which  embraced 
Europe  as  well  as  Asia  in  its  discussions. 

In  a  letter  dated  'Calcutta,  7th  April,  1833,'  after  an 
able  commentary  on  European  pohtics.  Lord  William 
writes :  '  I  am  still  confident  as  when  I  last  wrote,  that 
there  will  be  no  war.  Your  Chief  is  still  here,  and  will 
remain  till  further  intelligence  arrives.  This  place  and 
its  gaieties  suit  him  better  than  the  monotony  of  Simla. 
He  has  been  fighting  all  his  battles  with  the  council  o'er 
again,  but  with  of  course  the  same  success.  I  suppose 
you  are  by  this  time  snug  in  your  cool  cottage  at  Mussourie. 
With  best  wishes  ever  sincerely  yours, 

'W.  Bentinck.' 

We  revert  to  the  correspondence  with  Mr.  Davis : — 

'  Meerut,  Sth  March. — C appears  to  apply  as  we 

could  wish  to  his  studies  at  Madras,  and  Sir  Frederick 
Adam  *  has  been  very  kind  to  him.  I  have  been  very 
busy  of  late  preparing  the  field-day  for  the  Commander- 
in-Chief  on  his  return  to  Calcutta.  I  have  to  show  him 
three  battalions,  ten  squadrons,  and  twenty-four  guns  ; 
and  I  think  he  will  be  pleased.     I  cannot  tell  you  how 

anxiously  I  am  looking  out  for -'s  name  in  the  Gazette. 

I  expect  to  be  relieved  on  the  29th  July.  Should  this  be 
the  case,  I  shall  go  down  to  Calcutta  and  stay  a  little 
time  with  Lord  William,  then  proceed  to  Madras  to  see 
C ,  and  home ! ' 

'  Meerut,  loth  March. — I  have  written  to  you  to-day 
with  my  best  thanks  and  fullest  approbation  of  every- 

*  Sir  Frederick  was  then  Governor  of  Madras,  after  having  been  Lord 
High  Commissioner  of  the  Ionian  Islands. 


'  LES   ABSENTS   ONT   TOUJOURS  TORT.'  387 

thing  you  have  done  about  Colonel  Napier  ;^  but  my 

mind  is  so  troubled  at  the  idea  of 's  being  sent  to 

the  West  Indies,  that  I  have  no  rest  and  send  you  these 
few  lines  by  another  conveyance,  to  request  you  will  im- 
mediately w^ait  on  Lord  Hill  and  beg  and  entreat  he  will 
exchange  him  into  a  regiment  at  home.  I  have  not  in  the 
last  thirty  years  spent  one  year  at  home.  My  children  do 
not  know  me.     I  have  been  ten  years  in  the  East  Indies 

and  two  in  the  West I  should  not  have  courage 

to  bear  up  against  such  a  disappointment.' 

'  Meerut,  2nd  April. — I  yesterday  received  your  letter 
of  the  20th  October.  Colonel  Napier's  answer  is  con- 
clusive, and  the  matter  must  now  rest  till  my  return. 

'  What  I  complain  of  in  Colonel  Napier's  statement  is, 
not  the  fact  of  the  non-co-operation  of  the  Spanish  cavalry, 
which  depended  upon  the  repeated  orders  of  the  Spanish 
Commander-in-Chief,  but  of  the  sneering  manner  in  which 
he  has  been  pleased  to  introduce  my  name,  and  which 
leaves  me  no  choice  but  to  convince  him  on  the  field  of 
honour  that  my  conduct  did  not  proceed  from  any  want 
of  resolution.' 

The  '  Wellington  Dispatches,'  yet  unpublished,  and  the 
absence  of  all  his  papers,  and  the  lapse  of  some  twenty- 
two  years,  made  him  overlook  more  tangible  injustices 
than  a  mere  sneer,  namely  great  misrepresentation  of  his 
rank,  position,  and  command  on  that  day,  and  of  his  em- 
ployment (as  General  of  the  advanced  guard)  in  protect- 
ing the  right  flank,  which  he  had  reported  in  v/riting  to 
La  Peiia,  and,  more  succinctly,  verbally  to  Graham.  Les 
Absents  ont  toujours  tort  applied  too  truly  to  the  case. 
That  very  year  came  out  in  London,  the  second  edition 
of  that  third  volume,  which  the  permanent  edition  now 

*  Mr.  Davis  had  written  that  Napier's  account  of  Barrosa  was  ^an  un- 
founded calumny '  in  General  Whittingham's  opinion,  for  which  he  would 
demand  satisfaction  as  soon  as  he  returned  to  England. 

c  c  2 


388  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WJIITTINGHAM. 

used  entirely  follows  ;  and  the  injustice  is  thus  perpetuated 
for  ever ! ' 

In  a  letter  from  Lord  Wilham,  dated  Calcutta,  15th 
June,  1833,  addressed  to  Sir  Samford  (then  on  the  Mus- 
sourie  hills)  and  marked  '  private '  and  full  of  local  politics 
and  of  his  difference  with  Sir  Edward  Barnes,  occurs  this 
friendly  passage :  '  Pray  let  me  know  when  you  expect 
to  be  in  Calcutta.  We  shall  be  most  happy  to  receive 
you  whenever  you  come.' 

At  the  Mussourie  hills  on  the  evening  of  the  26th 
June,  1833,  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  was  taking  his  even- 
ing ride,  with  a  party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  amongst 
the  former  of  whom  was  the  wife  of  Doctor  Magrath. 
At  a  narrow  and  dangerous  part  of  the  road,  a  Euro- 
pean without  hat,  jacket,  or  cravat,  came  riding  at  a 
furious  pace.  Most  of  the  persons  who  saw  him  con- 
sidered him  drunk.  He  nearly  ran  against  some  of  them, 
and  frightened  several  ladies.  The  General  was  riding 
with  four  or  ^ve  of  the  party  at  the  time,  when  the 
European  in  question  rode  up  against  him  and  nearly 
knocked  his  pony  over  the  precipice.  Sir  Samford,  feel- 
ing indignant  at  this  outrage,  and  conceiving  the  offender 
to  be  some  low  European,  in  a  hasty  moment,  struck  him 
with  his  whip.  The  person  rode  on  without  taking  any 
notice,  and  the  General  sent  an  officer  after  him  to  see 

who  he  was.     He  was  discovered  to  be  Ensign  H , 

26th  N.I.,  then  on  leave  at  Mussourie. 

This  officer,  it  appears,  on  learning  who  had  struck 
him,  revenged  himself  by  sending  round  next  day  an 
abusive  circular  against  the  '  person  on  horse-back '  w^ho 
had  assaulted  him,  justifying  his  outrageous  language 
under  the  pretence  of  having  been  unable  to  discover 
the  aggressor. 

The  General  sent  his  aide-de-camp.  Captain  Caine,  to 
call  out  the  Ensign,  and  the  meeting  was  arranged  for  the 
next  morning.     That  evening  Sir  Samford  had  a  dinner- 


THE   DUEL — AN   UJSTISXPECTED   BROAD   FRONT.         389 

party,  at  which  he  was  as  gay  and  agreeable  as  usual,  as 
if  nothing  serious  had  occurred.  Mrs.  Magrath  was  one 
of  the  party,  and  had  no  suspicion  whatever  of  any  im- 
pending evil.  She  knew  indeed  of  the  circular;  for  a 
Colonel  of  infantry,  almost  with  tears  in  his  eyes  (so 
affected  was  he  by  the  insult  to  his  Chief),  had  acquainted 
her  with  the  circumstance ;  but  she  doubtless  never  sup- 
posed that  a  General  Officer  would  fight  a  duel  with  an 
Ensign.  Her  younger  brother,  a  youth  who  was  await- 
ing his  commission  in  the  army,  through  the  interest  of 
the  General,  had,  however,  his  suspicions,  and  following 
the  dneUists  unperceived  on  the  morning  of  the  28th  June 
witnessed  the  result  of  the  meeting,  and  hastened  to  his 
astonished  sister  not  long  afterwards,  with  the  joyful  ex- 
clamation, '  The  General  is  safe  ! ' 

Ensign  H fired  at  Sir  Samford  without  effect ;  who 

in  return  fired  in  the  air ;  he  who  it  has  been  said  could 
snuff  a  candle  with  a  pistol  ball,  and  to  whose  skill  as  a 
shot  the  late  gallant  Lord  Fife  has  borne  his  spontaneous 
testimony.*  The  General  then  told  the  Ensign,  that 
having  now  met  him  as  a  gentleman,  he  had  no  hesitation 
in  saying  that  when  he  (Ensign  H.)  rode  up  against  him, 
he  (the  General)  could  not  have  supposed  him  to  be  an 
officer.  In  fact  he  had  taken  him  for  some  low  drunken 
European,  and  under  that  impression,  added  to  the  irri- 
tating attendant  circumstances,  had  struck  him.  The 
General  added  that  private  satisfaction  having  been  af- 
forded,   they   resumed   their   relative  positions,  and  he 

ordered  Ensign  H to  go  to  his  room  and  consider 

himself  in  arrest.  The  young  gentleman  then  expressed 
great  contrition  for  his  offence.  He  said  he  did  not  know 
the  General  at  the  time  and  that  he  '  felt  highly  honoured 
by  the  handsome  manner  in  which  Sir  Samford  had 
behaved  to  him.' 

In  this  duel,  the  General  who  was  very  stout  in  person, 

*  Vide  Preface. 


390  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WITTTTIXGHAM. 

astonished  his  second  by  unexpectedly  presenting  his  full 
and  broad  front  to  his  youthful  antagonist.  Colonel  Caine 
writes  (on  the  16th  July,  1867,  to  the  Editor) :  '  The 
opponents  were  placed  by  me  with  their  right  sides  facing 
each  other,  and  on  giving  the  signal  to  fire  I  was  aston- 
ished to  see  Sir  Samford  coolly  change  position  by  offer- 
ing his  entire  front  to  his  adversary.     Before  I  could 

interpose,  Mr.  H fired  in  the  direction  of  the  General, 

and  the  latter  discharged  his  pistol  in  the  air.' 

The  General  observing  that  his  aide-de-camp  did  not 
look  pleased  at  the  affair  ending  with  an  arrest,  kindly 
explained  to  that  officer  '  that  by  thus  taking  the  matter 
into  his  own  hands,  the  three  Lieutenant-Colonels  who 

had    been  desirous  to  try  Mr.  H by  court-martial, 

would  now  be  disarmed.'  So  that  the  aide-de-camp  was 
(to  quote  his  own  words)  '  fully  satisfied  that  the  General's 
reasoning  was  sound  and  kind.' 

Ensign  H afterwards  sent  to  Captain  Caine  a  writ- 
ten apology  to  Sir  Samford,  and  a  request  for  lenient  con- 
sideration, accompanied  by  another  apology  to  the  ladies 
and  gentlemen  concerned.  On  Captain  Caine  delivering 
the  two  apologies  to  the  General,  he,  in  consideration  of 

Mr.  H 's  youth  and  inexperience,  and  his  being  the 

son  of  General  Sir  M.  H — — ,  governor  of Castle, 

pardoned  and  released  him  from  arrest.* 

It  appears  that  on  the  17th  August  Sir  Samford  sent 
Lord  William  Bentinck  an  account  of  this  affair  of  honour 
that  never  reached  its  destination  ;  so  that  he  had  to 
write  again.  The  following  was  the  reply  of  his  Lord- 
ship : — 

'  Calcutta,  28^A  September,  1833. 

'  My  dear  Sir  S.  Ford, — I  am  sorry  to  say  that  I  have 
not  received  your  letter  of  the  17th  August ;  and  as  being 

*  This  account  (so  far  as  relates  to  the  co?ite7iding  parties)  is  abbreviated 
from  one  of  tbe  formal  copies  of  the  full  proceedings  made  out  by  Captain 
Caine  on  the  1st  July,  1833.  The  greater  part  of  Colonel  Caine's  recent 
letter  only  contains  the  same  statements  which  he  signed  in  1833. 


THE   GOV-GEN.    MADE    COM-IN-CIIIEP.  391 

upon  a  question  in  whicli  your  own  person  and  honour, 
all,  in  short,  upon  which  a  friend  ought  to  feel  the  most 
anxious  and  concerned,  I  do  indeed  lament  that  I  did 
not  sooner  express  the  feelings  I  entertain.  But  in  this 
case  particularly,  and  with  all  such  cases,  all's  well  that 
ends  well.  It  appears  to  me  that  the  first  sally  apart, 
which  it  might  be  almost  too  fastidious  to  find  fault  with, 
no  friend  of  yours  could  have  wished  a  difierent  decision 
upon  any  of  the  incidents  which  occurred  in  this  trans- 
action. It  was  a  disagreeable  predicament ;  but  as  long 
as  the  opinion  of  the  world  holds  its  present  sway,  and 
toleration,  in  these  matters,  I  think  you  could  not  have 
acted  otherwise  than  you  did. 

'  I  have  said  to  you  nothing  of  the  honour,  which, 
according  to  report,  has  been  thrust  upon  me  ;  because, 
except  where  some  necessity  might  compel  me  to  act 
otherwise,  delicacy  required  me  to  be  silent.  I  have  had 
no  letter  from  London  till  to-day  later  than  the  14th  May. 
This  day,  by  the  ''Anna  Maria,''  I  received  an  official 
letter  from  the  Adjutant-General  informing  me  of  the 
King's  having  appointed  me  to  command  his  forces  in 
India.  .  .  . .  This  is  a  feather  in  my  cap  ;  it  is  a  mark 
of  confidence  which,  as  I  must  soon  make  my  bow  to  the 
public,  I  am  well  pleased  to  receive.  But  there  may  be 
much  trouble,  and  no  advantage  to  myself,  that  I  at  pre- 
sent foresee.  I  say  there,  may  be  much  trouble,  for  if  I 
take  only  as  much  as  two  of  my  three  predecessors — 
perhaps  I  may  say  of  the  third  also — save  and  except  the 
time  spent  in  altercation,  the  office  would  be  very  much 
of  a  sinecure.  I  cannot  do  as  much  as  I  -could  wish,  or 
I  ought ;  but  what  remains  of  zeal,  health,  and  strength,  I 
shall  not  fail  to  put  into  the  work.  But  my  career  is  too 
near  its  end  to  enable  me  to  deal  efficaciously  with  some 
evils,  the  nature  of  which  you  know  better  than  I  do. 
This  event  makes  me  regret  more  than  ever  your  depar- 
ture from  India.     But  why  expend  lamentation  upon  an 


392  MEMOIR   OP   Sm   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

evil,  which  it  has  been  attempted  in  vain  to  remedy.  I 
have  no  conception  how  Sir  Edward  [Barnes]  will  hke 
this  order.  I  have  been  in  the  predicament,*  and  I  know 
therefore  how  unpleasant  it  is.  I  sent  him  by  express 
the  earliest  intelligence  of  the  fact,  which  I  had  first  re- 
ceived from  Sir  F.  Adam.  I  think  he  will  take  kindly 
my  having  done  so  ;  though  it  is  not  quite  a  certain  mat- 
ter of  calculation  what  he  will  say  or  do,  even  on  points 
where  the  greater  number  generally  coincide.  But  I 
hope  he  may.  For  though  his  impracticability  has  been 
an  annoyance,  yet  his  fine  quahties  interest  and  please. 
He,  no  doubt,  will  think  himself  the  worst  used  man  in 
the  world.  It  would  give  me  sincere  pleasure  [to  find] 
that  he  was  going  to  the  Cape.  But  I  doubt  the  truth  of 
the  report.  That  appointment  must  have  been  filled  up 
before  the  causes  leading  to  Sir  E.'s  recall  could  have 
been  known. 

'  Ever  sincerely  yours, 

'  W.  Bentinck.' 

Before  this  letter  was  written,  viz.,  on  the  20th  Septem- 
ber, Sir  Samford  had  written  from  Mussourie  to  congra- 
tulate the  new  Commander-in-Chief,  and  to  ask  to  be  his 
Military  Secretary,  being  anxious  for  his  children's  sake 
to  prolong  his  stay  in  India.  But  Lord  William  had 
already  offered  the  post  to  his  old  friend  General  Sleigh, 
the  late  Lieut.-Colonel  of  the  cavalry  regiment  of  which 
his  Lordship  was  Colonel. 

From  Lord  William.  Bentinck. 

(Extract.) 

'  Calcutta,  l^th  October ^  1833. 

'  My  dear  Sir  S.  Ford, — [After  explaining  why  Briga- 
dier-General Sleigh  had  been  offered  the  Secretaryship, 
Lord  W.  writes:]  'You  certainly  occurred  to  me.     But 

*  His  Lordsliip  in  his  younger  days  liad  been  recalled  from  the  govern- 
ment of  Madras. 


SIR   SAMFORD's   value   to   lord   WILLIAM.  393 

I  did  not  imagine  that  the  appointment,  curtailed  as  it  is 
likely  to  be,  would  be  acceptable  to  you.'  [He  then  pro- 
mises it  if  Sleigh  should  refuse  it,  and  adds :]  '  Your 
acceptance  of  it  will  be  very  agreeable  both  to  myself 
and  Lady  William.  Our  long  acquaintance — our  mutual 
friendship — your  experience  and  knowledge  of  the  Indian 
army — are  all  circumstances  combining  to  make  me  con- 
template the  event  with  great  satisfaction.' 

Lord  William,  in  a  letter  dated  '  Barrackpoor,  23rd 
October,  1833,'  reminds  Sir  Samford  that  all  ostensible 
business  in  Lidia  passed  through  the  Company's,  not  the 
King's,  staff  officers ;  and  that  merely  as  military  secre- 
tary, he  could  not  be  of  much  use  to  Lord  William.  His 
Lordship  continues :  '  Your  value  to  me  will  arise  from 
your  fining  a  very  different  character,  that  of  friend  and 
counsellor ;  whose  capability  to  give  the  most  useful  assist- 
ance is  derived  from  great  knowledge  of  India  and  of 
her  armies^  coupled  with  great  practical  experience  in  the 
art  of  war  and  the  formation  of  armies.  This  estimate 
is  formed  upon  no  conjecture^  hut  upon  my  long  personal 
acquaintance  with  you;  to  say  nothing  of  the  valuable 
papers^  upon  all  subjects^  which  you  have  had  the  goodness 
to  give  me  from  time  to  time.' 

We  see  that  the  cold  and  calm  Dutchman^  (the  great 
civil  and  military  ruler  of  India)  could  almost  rival  Sir 
Edward  Paget  in  esteem  for  Sir  Samford  Whittingham ; 
and  hard  it  certainly  was  that  the  man  thus  highly 
honoured  and  esteemed  by  so  many  successive  chiefs  and 
rulers,  was  driven  eagerly  to  desire  once  more  to  risk  a 
life  so  valuable  to  his  children  and  so  useful  to  his  coun- 
try, to  vindicate  his  honour  and  that  good  name  which 
by  word  and  pen  Wellington  himself  had  established — or 
at  least  had  endeavoured  to  establish  ! 

General  Sleigh  accepted  the  MiHtary  Secretaryship  ; 

*  So  he  was  called  in  allusion  both  to  his  ancestors,  and  to  his  own 
imperturbability. 


394  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

but  owing  to  the  sickness  of  Mrs.  Sleigh,  at  first  delayed 
his  journey  to  Lord  William,  and  Sir  Samford  therefore 
acted  in  his  stead,  and  thus  became  one  of  the  Governor- 
General's  family  for  nearly  all  the  rest  of  his  stay  in 
India. 

His  private  correspondence  this  year  with  his  brother- 
in-law  is  chiefly  taken  up  with  domestic  matters.  But  in 
one  letter  of  30th  November  he  repeats  more  at  large 
his  intentions  of  calling  out  Colonel  Napier, — without 
returning  his  fire,  however, — and  only  to  convince  him 
of  his  courage. 

General  Sleigh  took  up  his  appointment  as  Military 
Secretary,  and  Sir  Samford  prepared  to  sail  to  Madras,  on 
his  way  to  England,  as  he  had  now  no  employment  in 
India.     To  his  brother-in-law  he  writes  : 

'  Calcutta^  4:th  January,  1834. — I  thought  I  should  have 
long  since  sailed  for  Madras,  but  Lord  William  has  de- 
tained  me  on  business  ;  and  as  I  shall  accompany  him  to 
that  presidency,  and  may  be  detained  there  some  months, 
I  fear  the  time  of  our  meeting  is  more  distant  than  we 
had  both  hoped.     My  only  consolation  is  that  it  will  give 

me  time  to  become  acquainted  with  dear  C ,  in  whose 

fate  I  take  the  deepest  and  most  lively  interest.  In  his 
correspondence  with  me  he  is  amiable  beyond  expression. 
All  that  he  appears  to  me  to  want  is  more  confidence  in 
himself.  I  am  living  at  Government  House,  and  I  am 
treated  more  like  a  brother  than  a  guest.' 

General  Sleigh  preferring  to  remain  at  Calcutta,  Sir 
Samford  accompanied  Lord  Wilham  Bentinck,  as  acting 
Military  Secretary. 

'  Calcutta,  9th  January,  1834. — I  go  with  Lord  William 
to  Madras,  and  shall  carry  home  his  dispatches.  We  shall 
leave  this  immediately  after  the  arrival  of  Sir  Edward 
Barnes,  who  is  expected  in  a  few  days.'  * 

*  Thougli  recalled,  Sir  Edward  Barnes  was  allowed  to  await  his  suc- 
cessor. 


AN   OFFICIAL  LETTER   ON   BROKEN  PROMISES.  395 

The  following  official  letter  testifies  that  the  word 
neglected^  which  Sir  Edward  Paget  was  so  fond  of  ap- 
plying to  his  '  dear  and  excellent  friend'  was  becoming 
more  applicable  than  ever,  as  far  as  regarded  the  Home 
authorities : — 

To  His  Excellency  General  the  Right  Honourable 
Lord  William  Bentinck,  G.C.B.  ^c. 

'  Calcutta,  IQth  January,  1834. 

'  My  Lord, — The  friendship  with  which  for  upwards  of 
twenty-five  years  you  have  been  pleased  to  honour  me, 
leads  me  to  hope  you  will  have  the  goodness  to  submit 
the  following  statement  to  the  favourable  consideration 
of  Lord  Hill. 

'  The  whole  of  my  military  career  has  been  in  the 
cavalry.  I  have  never  done  a  day's  duty  with  any  corps 
of  infantry.  I  began  in  the  Life  Guards,  and  held  a  troop 
in  the  13th  Light  Dragoons  on  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Spanish  war.  In  Spain,  I  had  under  my  command  twelve 
regiments  of  cavalry ;  and  the  '  Book  of  Tactics  for  Bri- 
gade Exercises,'  which  I  arranged  and  published  at  my 
own  expense,  for  the  use  of  the  Spanish  cavalry  under  my 
orders,  was  adopted  for  the  whole  of  that  arm  in  Spain. 

*  During  the  eleven  years  of  my  service  in  Lidia,  my 
time  and  attention  have  been  directed  particularly  to  that 
branch  of  the  army,  and  during  the  last  cold  season  ten 
squadrons  were  assembled  at  Meerut,  by  your  Lordship's 
direction,  for  the  purpose  of  Brigade  exercise  under  my 
command.  I  was  promised  a  regiment  by  the  late  Duke 
of  York,  by  his  late  Majesty  George  the  Fourth,  and  by 
the  Duke  of  Wellington. 

'  The  chances  of  life  *  have  prevented  the  realization 
of  these  promises.  But  if  your  Lordship  should  be  pleased 
to  recommend  me  to  the  Commander-in-Chief  for  the  first 
regiment  of  cavalry  that  may  become  vacant  I  love  to 

*  The  deaths  of  the  two  first,  and  the  removal  from  office  of  the  third. 


396  MEMOIli   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTIXGIIAM. 

hope  [that]  my  claims  might  be  taken  into  favourable 
consideration. 

'  I  have  the  honour  to  be, 
'  My  Lord, 
'  Your  obedient  servant, 

'  Samford  Whittingham/ 

^Madras,  6th  February,  1834. — My  dearest  Brother,  I 
arrived  here  yesterday  morning,  after  a  tedious  voyage 
from  Calcutta,  which  I  left  on  the  17th  of  last  month.  I 
found  my  dearest  C.  in  rather  better  health  than  I  ex- 
pected, and  am  now  lodged  in  the  comfortable  mansion 
of  Colonel  Monteith,  who  is  so  complete  a  soldier  that 
I  am  quite  delighted  with  him.  Mrs.  Monteith,  who  is 
a  worthy  daughter  of  her  admirable  parents,*  received 
me  as  the  friend  of  her  early  days.  She  is  looking  quite 
well  and  very  happy,  and  as  fond  of  India  as  I  am,  which 
is  saying  a  great  deal.     I  knew  her  instantly.     But  of 

C I  had  not  the  smallest  recollection  ;  when  he  came 

into  the  room,  I  said,  "  are  you  C  .^"  and  when  he  said 

"  yes,"  I  could  scarcely  believe  him ! I  know 

of  no  career  in  any  part  of  the  world  to  be  compared  to 
the  civil  service  of  India.' 

'  Bangalore,  Wth  March. — A  severe  indisposition  of 
Lord  William  renders  it  advisable  to  look  out  for  a  change 
of  air ;  and  we  are  in  consequence  all  going  with  him  up 
to  the  Nilgherry  Hills.  I  am  with  him  as  his  acting 
Military  Secretary,  and  cannot  of  course  leave  him  till  he 
returns  to  Calcutta. 

'  C is  here  hy  order,  and  employed  in  the  office  of 

the  Governor-General's  Private  Secretary. 

'  It  was  truly  kind  in  Lord  William  to  propose  this 
himself.' 

In  a  letter  dated  '  Bangalore,  12th  March,  1834,'  Sir 
Samford  sends  Lord  Wilham  a  rough  copy  of  his  inten- 

*  Mr  and  Mrs.  Murdoch,  of  Portland  Place,  very  old  friends  of  Sir  Sam- 
ford Whittingham. 


SIR   EDWARD    AND    THE    'UNITED  SERVICE   JOURNAL.'    397 

tions  regarding  the  writing  of  an  '  Expose  of  tlie  State  of 
Indian  Affairs.' 

The  scene  now  changes  to  England  : — 

Sir  Edward  Paget  to  Mr.  Davis. 

(Extract.) 
'  Royal  Military  College,  ld>th  March,  1834. 
'  My  dear  Davis, — The  observations  on  Cavalry  Move- 
ments, mentioned  in  Whittingham's  letter,  I  have  sent  to 
the  Editor  of  the  '  United  Service  Journal.'    You  see  all 
the  doctors  have  not  yet  done  much  for  my  feeble  arm.'  * 

The  following  letter  was  enclosed  in  Sir  Edward's 
note : — 

Major  Shadwell  Gierke  to  Major  Procter. 

'  Athen^tim,  20th  March,  1834. 

'  My  dear  Procter, — I  have  just  received  and,  though 
late  in  the  month,  shall  make  a  point  of  inserting  in  the 
next  (April)  Number  of  the  Journal,  the  striking  sugges- 
tions of  Sir  S.  Whittingham  on  Cavalry  Tactics. 

'  Assure  Sir  Edward,  with  my  best  compliments,  that  I 
receive  this  communication  with  much  satisfaction  both 
on  account  of  the  medium  through  which  it  is  offered, 
the  recommendation  of  Sir  Edward  being  in  any  case 
conclusive  with  me,  and  also  as  giving  earnest  of  further 
contributions  from  the  same  eminent  and  competent 
quarter.  Perhaps  Sir  Edward  would  do  me  the  favour 
to  state  my  hopes  on  this  point  to  his  experienced  cor- 
respondent, whom  I  should  feel  pride  in  numbering 
amongst  the  Paladins  of  the  U.  S.  Journal.  .  .  . 
'  In  haste,  but  ever  truly  yours, 

'  T.  H.  Shadwell  Clerke.'  f 

*  His  left,  the  only  one  he  had,  which  it  appears  had  been  ailing ;  and 
which  fact  was  visible  in  his  hand-writing. 

t  Major  T.  H.  Shadwell  Clerke,  K.H.,  had  lost  a  leg  in  the  Peninsular 
war.  The  monthly  he  edited  is  now  styled  '  United  Service  Magazine.^ 
Thirty  years  ago  it  had  a  great  circulation  in  the  army. 


398  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

At  the  commencement  of  1834,  Sir  Edward  Paget 
sent  to  Lord  Fitzroy  Somerset,  General  Whittingham's 
last  Memoir  on  India.  On  the  11th  January  it  was  re- 
turned with  thanks,  and  with  the  observation  :  '  Our  friend 
Whittingham's  views  are  very  extensive.'  We  return  to 
India,  and  the  fraternal  correspondence. 

'Bangalore,  VI th  March,  1834. — Lord  William  left  us 
on  the  15th  for  the  Mlgherry  Hills.     Colonel  Casement 

and  his  party  follow  to-morrow.     C is  with  us,  and 

attached  to  the  office  of  the  Governor-General's  Private 
Secretary.  I  am  with  Lord  W.  as  his  "  Acting  Military 
Secretary,"  as  Sleigh,  Torrens,  Lumley,  &c.,  have  re- 
mained with  their  respective  offices  at  Calcutta.  My 
employment  is  ample,  but  I  like  everything  connected 
with  Lord  William,  and  never  think  I  have  too  much  to 
do.  Since  our  arrival  here  his  Lordship  has  been  dan- 
gerously ill ;  but  he  is  now  quite  recovered,  and  only 
wants  change  of  air.     Lord  William  is  most  anxious  to 

render  C every  service  in  his  power  ;  and  I  could 

not  be  kinder  to  him  than  is  Sir  Frederick  Adam.  Lord 
William  and  Sir  Frederick  really  take  as  much  interest  in 
C as  I  do.' 

In  a  letter  dated  '  Outacamund,  13th  April,  1834,'  he 
gives  the  Governor-General  his  opinion  on  '  the  late  short 
campaign  with  the  Eajah  of  Courg,'  and  on  its  results 
and  their  general  importance,  observations  much  in  the 
style  of  those  which  Lord  William  had  before  so  flatter- 
ingly appreciated. 

On  the  29th  April  he  thanks  his  Lordship  for  trans- 
mitting for  his  perusal  two  interesting  minutes  of  the 
26th  March,  1831,  and  of  the  27th  January,  183.4.  It 
was  a  case  of  contention  between  the  Governor-General 
and  the  Court  of  Directors,  who  objected  to  certain 
necessary  new  roads  on  the  score  of  expense.  Sir  Sam- 
ford  as  usual  takes  the  opportunity  of  criticizing  the  Com- 


LOTiD   WILLIAM'S   CONFIDENCE   IN  GEN.  WHITTINGIIAM.  399 

pany's  system,  in  which  he  had  the  full  sympathy  of  liis 
noble  and  able  correspondent. 

'  Outacamund,  9th  May,  1834. — I  do  not  recollect  at 
any  period  of  my  life  to  have  been  more  busily  and  con- 
stantly employed  than  at  present.  But  I  am  so  sincerely 
attached  to  our  excellent  Chief,  that  I  go  through  the 
work  with  pleasure. 

'  Outacamund,  14^A  July. — I  cannot  tell  you  in  what 
month  I  shall  embark  for  England.  I  leave  my  move- 
ments entirely  to  the  decision  of  Lord  William,  to  whom 
I  every  day  feel  a  stronger  attachment,  and  whose  kind- 
ness to  me  is  unbounded. 

'  His  Lordship's  health,  and  that  of  all  the  party  have 
found  infinite  benefit  from  our  residence  in  this  cool  cli- 
mate, where  the  thermometer  at  no  part  of  the  summer 
has  exceeded  65°  in  a  room  with  a  fire.  The  Supreme 
Council  of  India  has  commenced  its  sittings  in  these  re- 
mote mountains.  Mr.  [Babington]  Macau] ay  has  arrived 
and  taken  his  seat.  He  lives  with  his  Lordship,  and  is 
assuredly  one  of  the  best  informed  men  1  ever  met  with. 
Your  old  friend.  Sir  Frederick  Adam,  is  also  up  here,  and 
a  temporary  member  of  the  Council.  It  is  to  me  a 
source  of  great  delight  and  comfort,  having  C.  with  me 
under  the  same  roof.  His  room  adjoins  to  mine,  and  he 
forms  one  of  his  Lordship's  family.' 

Soon  after  this,  a  vacancy  occurring  amongst  the  Gene- 
rals of  Madras,  General  Sleigh  received  the  appointment, 
and  the  acting  Military  Secretary  was,  on  his  return  to 
Calcutta,  to  obtain  the  permanent  appointment  during  the 
rest  of  Lord  William's  stay.  Hitherto  he  had  done  all  the 
duties  gratis,  receiving  '  no  pay  from  any  one.' 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham  to  Sir  Edward  Paget. 

(Extract.) 

'  Bangalore,  bth  October,  1834. 

'  I  send  you  rather  a  long  Memoir  in  three  parts,  the 
result  of  twelve  years'  meditation  on  a  most  interesting 


400  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

subject.*  I  know  you  will  read  it  for  my  sake,  and  I  beg 
you  will  make  what  use  of  it  you  please.  You  will  see 
that  it  is  quite  of  a  confidential  nature.  I  have  given  a 
copy  of  the  Memoir  to  Lord  William,  who  has  been 
pleased  to  call  it  excellent,  and  to  say  that  every  word 
contained  in  it  is  true.  To  you  and  to  him,  as  the  two 
best  friends  I  have  in  the  world,  I  have  submitted  it,  but 

to  no  other  person 

'  It  is  now  settled  that  I  am  to  remain  with  Lord  Wil- 
liam as  his  Military  Secretary  till  he  quits  India.  He  is 
now  on  his  way  down  from  Outacamund,  on  the  Mlgherry 
Hills,  and  I  expect  he  will  arrive  to-morrow.  I  came 
here  yesterday.  We  shall  soon  proceed  to  Madras,  and 
we  hope  to  be  in  Calcutta  in  the  course  of  the  month  of 
November.  His  Lordship's  health  is  quite  restored  by  his 
sejour  on  the  hills.' 

Eeverting  to  the  fraternal  correspondence  : — 
'  Calcutta,  IQth  November,  1834. — I  accompanied  Lord 
William  Bentinck  to  this  place  from  Madras,  and  landed 
on  the  12th  instant.  I  have  derived  no  other  benefit 
from  acting  as  Military  Secretary  than  that  of  making 
myself  useful  to  a  man  I  so  highly  respect  and  admire. 
But  it  was  not  in  his  Lordship's  power  to  give  me  pecu- 
niary remuneration  of  any  kind.' 

'  Calcutta,  2ith  November. — General  Sleigh  will  be  put 
in  orders  in  a  few  days  to  succeed  Sir  J.  Barns  at  Poonah, 
Bombay ;  and  I  shall  then  be  put  in  orders  as  Mihtary 
Secretary,  and  will  commence  the  first  pay  I  shall  have 
drawn  since  the  1st  of  last  August  twelvemonth.  I  cer- 
tainly never  was  more  honoured  and  distinguished  than 
under  my  present  Chief;  but  my  case  is  somewhat  like 
that  of  Gril  Bias  with  the  Duke  of  Lerma,  '  y  la  hambre 
corre  parejos  con  la  gala.'f     If  they  don't  give  me  a 

*  The  Editor  is  uncertain  in  regard  to  the  subject  of  this  Memoir.     (See 
Appendix  F.) 

t  '  And  hunger  runs  in  couples  with  display.' 


ADMIRATION   FOR   THE   PRUSSIAN   MILITARY  SYSTEM.      401 

regiment  on  my  return  home,  I  know  not  what  to  do ; 
for  it  is  late  in  life  to  look  out  for  another  trade  ! ' 

^  Barrackpore,  oOth'  November. — C was  to  join  his 

station  at  Cuddalore  on  the  1st  January  next.  His 
health  was  good,  and  he  appears  now  to  prefer  the 
Madras  Presidency  to  this.  Nothing  can  exceed  Sir 
Frederick  Adam's  kindness  to  him.  Sir  Frederick  is  now 
here  on  a  visit  to  Lord  WiUiam.' 

'  Barrackpore,  2nd  February,  1835. — As  I  am  most 

anxious  that should  pass  at  least  a  year  at  Potsdam,* 

I  purpose  taking  him  there  within  a  month  of  my  arrival 
in  England,  if  I  can  obtain  Lord  Hill's  leave  to  do  so. 
Will  you  procure,  from  Mr.  Frere,  the  necessary  informa- 
tion as  to  the  best  mode  of  settling  at  Potsdam  under  the 
care  of  some  old  Prussian  officer,  who  is  in  the  habit  of 
taking  a  limited  number  of  pupils  ?  I  consider  this  finish 
to  his  education  as  of  great  importance  to . 

'  From  this  date  I  receive  pay.  Before  not  a  rupee.  I 
had  the  honour  and  labour,  but  not  the  profit.  I  was 
a  hardy  volunteer  in  the  ranks  of  his  Lordship,  whom  I 
have  known  for  twenty-seven  years.  I  was  employed  by 
him  in  the  year  1808,  in  his  negotiations  with  the  Spanish 
Government  at  Aranjuez.  I  served  under  his  orders  on 
the  eastern  coast  of  Spain,  and  now  in  India.  By  the 
enclosed  letter  and  statement,  which  both  his  Lordship 
and  Sir  Frederick  Adam  have  seen  and  approved,  you 
will  perceive  that  I  ask  my  good  friend  Sir  Edward 
Paget,  to  arrange  a  meeting  between  me  and  Colonel 
Napier.  It  is  a  military  business  altogether,  and  I  feel 
satisfied  Sir  Edward  will  not  refuse  my  request. f  Pray 
send  the  letter  and  statement  to  him  immediately,  and  tell 
him  that  I  ^vill,  with  his  permission,  go  direct  to  his  home 
from   the  place  of  my  landing   in  England,  and   from 

*  In  numberless  letters  he  had  repeated  this  determination,  so  high  was 
his  opinion  of  the  Prussian  military  system.  He  did  not,  however,  go  to 
Berlin  himself. 

t  In  this  he  was  mistaken  j  nor  can  anyone  blame  Sir  Edward  Paget. 

D  D 


402  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

thence  to  the  meeting,  wherever  it  may  be  appointed 
to  take  place. 

*I  return  to  England  in  the  ^^  Curaqoa^''  with  Lord 
Wilham  Bentinck.  We  shall  sail  at  the  latest  by  the 
middle  of  March,  and  only  touch  at  the  Cape,  so  that,  it 
is  thought,  we  shall  be  at  home  very  early  in  July.' 

To  judge  fairly  on  points  of  honour  thirty  or  forty 
years  ago,  the  reader  must  remember  facts  then  con- 
sidered natural,  which  if  they  occurred  now  would  excite 
mingled  ridicule  and  indignation.  A  few  years  before 
Sir  Samford  returned  to  England,  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
had,  when  Premier  of  England^  challenged  and  fought 
with  the  Earl  of  Winchelsea,  on  account  of  a  hasty  and 
not  very  insulting  remark  on  the  part  of  the  latter  peer. 
And  Sir  Eobert  Peel  had  frequently  displayed  his  eager 
readiness  to  resort  to  the  arbitration  of  a  pistol-shot.  In 
this  case  both  Lord  William  Bentinck  and  Sir  Frederick 
Adam  had  approved  of  the  determination  taken  by  Sir 
Samford  Whittingham — a  fact  which  should  be  remem- 
bered in  forming  an  opinion  on  the  matter  : — 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham  to  Sir  Edward  Paget. 

'  Calcutta,  7th  February,  1835. 

'My  dear  General, — I  avail  myself  of  the  friendship 
with  which  you  have  so  long  honoured  me,  to  request 
you  will  have  the  goodness  to  arrange  a  meeting  between 
me  and  Colonel  Napier,  and  accompany  me  to  the 
ground. 

'The  enclosed  statement,  which  I  will  thank  you  to 
deliver  to  the  Colonel,  after  the  meeting  shall  have  taken 
place,  will  explain  the  cause  of  this  appeal,  and  the  object 
I  have  in  view. 

'  It  is  not  my  intention  to  return  the  Colonel's  fire,  and 
if  I  faU  I  request  that  no  proceedings  may  take  place 


ARRIVES   IN   ENGLAND.  403 

against  Colonel  Napier.  The  afiair  is  exclusively  my  own 
seeking,  and  neither  blame  nor  responsibility  should 
attach  to  him. 

This  circumstance*  could  alone  justify  my  application 
to  you  in  your  position  as  a  father  and  a  husband.  I 
feel  confident  you  will  not  refuse  an  old  friend  the 
only  favour  he  ever  asked  at  your  hands.  I  am  anxious 
the  meeting  should  take  place  with  the  least  possible 
delay. 

'  Ever,  my  dear  General,  most  sincerely  yours, 

*  Samford  Whittingham.* 

'  General  The  Hon.  Sir  Edward  Paget,  G.C.B., 
<  &c.  &c.  &c.' 

The  '  Curaqoa '  must  have  sailed  in  February,  probably 
soon  after  the  above  letter  was  written,  for  it  arrived  in 
England  in  the  early  part  of  July,  and  a  voyage  was 
rarely  less  than  five  months  at  that  period. 

He  thus  returned  to  England,  after  an  absence  in  India 
of  nearly  thirteen  years,  passed  in  continuous  hard  labour 
— mental  and  bodily— in  the  service  of  his  King  and 
country,  under  the  orders  of  six  successive  Commanders- 
in-chief,  all  of  whom  he  had  served  to  his  own  credit,  and 
to  their  complete  satisfaction.  His  popularity  with  his 
subordinates,  in  spite  of  his  great  professional  strictness, 
was  a  matter  of  general  notoriety ;  and,  as  the  late  Lord 
Cowley  said  of  him  at  his  departure  from  Spain,  it  might 
have  been  said  in  regard  to  India :  '  He  leaves  this 
country  with  the  testimony  of  all  ranks  in  his  favour.' 
The  completion  of  Lord  Cowley's  remarks  as  to  the 
absence  of  rewards  for  his  '  valuable  services '  would 
equally  have  applied  to  his  long  services  in  India. 

*  Not  returning  his  adversary's  fire";  and  thus  lessening  the  responsibility 
of  his  second. 


D  D  2 


404  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 


CHAPTEE  XXI. 

1835—1836. 

MR.  DAYIS'S  LETTER  TO  SIR  E.  PAGET — SIR  EDWARD  DECLINES  TO  TAKE 
PART  IN  A  DUEL — SIR  RUEANE  DONKIN's  DECISIVE  CONDUCT  APPROVED 
BY  SIR  EDWARD  PAGET — A  DOUBLE  BREACH  OF  EAITH — A  QUESTION  LEFT 
TO  THE  JUDGMENT  OF  THE  READER — INTERVIEWS  WITH  'tHE  DUKE'  AND 

lord  glenelg — men  of  no  party  apt  to  be  neglected — the  com- 
piler of  the  immortal  ^dispatches'  consults  sir  samford— lord 
Auckland's  invitation — his  lordship's  notes  to  sir  samford — 
the  hon.  admiral  fleeming  —  lord  elphinstone — lord  william 

BENTINCK'S  dinner  to  lord  AUCKLAND  —  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK — 
ROYAL  PRESENTATION  —  THE  KING's  QUESTIONS  —  WILLIAM  IV. 's  FLAT- 
TERING FINALE — SIR  H.  TAYLOR's  LETTER  ON  THE  DEATH  OF  SIR  WILLIAM 
KNIGHTON  —  THE  DUKE  OF  WELLINGTON  ON  THE  SAME  SUBJECT  —  SIR 
SAMFORD  WHITTINGHAM'S  REPLY  TO  HIS  GRACE  —  SIR  EDWARD  PAGET's 
FAREWELL — LORD  WILLIAM  DENTIN  CK's  FAREWELL  —  HIS  LORDSHIP'S 
PHILOSOPHY  —  CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  SIR  SAMFORD  AND  LORD  PAL- 
MERSTON — PORTSMOUTH  HOSPITALITIES — EMBARKATION. 

Mr.  Davis  to  the  Hon.  Sir  Edward  Paget. 

[Fenton  House]  ^  Hampstead  Heath,  8th  July,  1835. 

*  My  dear  Sir  Edward, — The  enclosed  papers  from  dear 
Whittingham  reached  me  this  day.  I  forward  them 
without  a  moment's  delay,  as  we  may  now  expect  his 
arrival  from  day  to  day.  Whittingham  has  mentioned 
this  affair  to  Lord  William  Bentinck  and  to  Sir  Frederick 
Adam.  They  both  approve  of  the  mode  our  friend  has 
taken  to  vindicate  his  military  character.  If  you  accept 
the  office,  the  time  and  place  must  be  determined  by 
your  own  convenience.  Make  use  of  me  in  any  way  in 
which  I  can  be  made  serviceable.     I  shall  feel  deeply 


SIR  E.  PAGET  DECLINES  TO  TAKE  PART  IN  A  DUEL.         405 

until  this  painful  afiair  is  at  an  end,  and  I  pray  God  that 
the  result  may  be  favourable. 

'  Ever,  my  dear  Sir  Edward, 

'  Your  affectionate  friend, 

'  E.  Hart  Davis.' 

Sir  Edward  Paget  to  Mr.  Davis. 

'  CowES  Castle,  9th  July,  1835. 

'  My  dear  Davis, — I  have  this  morning  received  your 
letter,  and  the  inclosures  from  Whittingham,  which  caused 
me  the  greatest  uneasiness.  To  refuse  anytliing  to  him  or 
to  you,  who  have  been  to  me  such  warm  and  zealous 
friends,  is  one  of  the  severest  trials  I  have  had  in  my  life. 
But  I  have  no  help  for  it.  My  position  (which  my 
circumstances  will  not  permit  me  to  abandon)  impera- 
tively forbids  me  to  take  part  in  this  affair.  Whittingham, 
in  his  letter  to  me,  most  kindly  considers  my  situation  as 
'  a  father  and  a  husband  ; '  but  he  quite  overlooks  (which 
I  imagine  is  also  your  case)  the  public  position  in  which 
I  stand  at  the  head  of  the  Eoyal  Military  Colleg(^.  In 
fact,  I  am  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  divulging  to  you 
that  this  consideration  compelled  me  advisedly  to  decline 

a  similar  proposal  made  to  me  by  Lord  C S 

some  years  ago.  And  I  will  tell  you  further,  that  fore- 
seeing the  possibility  of  the  present  case  arising,  I  could 
not  satisfy  myself  without  confidentially  consulting  Sir 
George  Murray  on  the  subject — an  old  and  tried  friend 
and  before  me  Governor  of  the  establishment — who  gave 
it  as  his  fixed  and  deliberate  opinion,  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  me  (consistently  with  my  tenure  of  the 
appointment)  to  engage  in  such  an  affair. 

'  Thus,  my  dear  Davis,  you  have  the  fact ;  which  I  will 
not  clog  with  reasonings,  which,  I  have  no  doubt,  will 
occur  both  to  Whittingham  and  yourself,  the  moment  the 
subject  is  proposed  to  you.  Under  these  circumstances, 
I  have  nothing  for  it  but  to  return  to  you  the  written 


406 


MEMOIR  OF  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 


Statement  which  accompanied  Whittingham's  letter  to  me, 
and  to  intreat  you,  when  you  return  it  to  him,  to  place 
this  letter  in  his  hands  at  the  same  time.  Heaven  protect 
him  ! 

'  Ever,  my  dear  Davis,  yours  affectionately, 

'E.P/ 

Sir  Edward  Paget  to  Mr.  Davis. 

*  R.  M.  College,  Uth  July,  1835. 

'My  dear  Davis, — I  have  received  this  morning  the 
duphcate  of  the  letter  and  statement,  which  you  sent  to 
me  on  the  8th  instant.  It  has  the  Portsmouth  postmark 
upon  it,  and  is  dated  "  Calcutta,  7th  February."  I  see  in 
the  papers  the  arrival  of  the  "  Curaqoa''  on  Sunday  at 
Portsmouth;  but  am  left  in  doubt  whether  the  letter 
came  by  that  ship,  or  whether  Whittingham  himself  is  a 
passenger  in  her.  This  would  add  perplexity  to  my 
sorrow  and  vexation  of  spirit,  if  I  did  not  feel  certain  that 
you  will  be  the  first  to  see  him  on  his  arrival,  and 
will  show  him  at  once  how  I  am  circumstanced  with 
respect  to  the  matter  he  writes  to  me  upon.  Pray  put 
me  out  of  doubt  on  the  question  of  his  arrival,  by  return 
of  post.  The  kind  and  considerate  letter  which  I  received 
from  you  on  Sunday  has  afforded  me  the  only  moment  of 
comfort  I  have  had  since  your  letter  of  the  8th  instant 
reached  me  at  Cowes.  Your  son  will  have  told  you 
before  this  reaches  you  that  your  nephew  has  passed 
his  examination,  and  is  placed  in  the  same  company  with 
Dundas. 

'  Ever  affectionately  yours, 

'  Edward  Paget.' 

The  reader  is  aware  that  Sir  Samford  did  arrive  in  the 
'  CuraqoaJ  On  learning  at  Mr.  Davis's  house,  that  Sir 
Edward  could  not  be  his  second,  he  appears  to  have 
immediately  applied  to  Sir  Eufane  Donkin,  his  old  Penin- 
sular friend,  to  whom  he  had  formerly  afforded  a  friendly 


SIR  RUFANE   DONKIN'S  DECISIVE   CONDUCT.  407 

countenance  and  support,  when  virulently  attacked  by 
a  brave  but  impatient  British  admiral,  about  the  Tarra- 
gona affair.  Sir  Eufane  took  the  matter  into  his  own 
hands,  settled  it  his  own  way  and  having  obtained  the 
sanction  of  Mr.  Davis — who  was  naturally  inclined  (if 
possible,  with  honour),  for  a  peaceful  solution — he,  in 
a  manner,  ignored  the  wishes  of  his  principal  altogether. 

On  the  24th  July,  Mr.  Davis  wrote  to  inform  Sir 
Edward  Paget  that  '  this  day  the  affair  between  Sir  S.  W. 
and  Colonel  N.  has  been  arranged  to  the  mutual  satisfac- 
tion of  each  party.'  But  this  was  rather  a  sanguine  view 
of  the  matter  in  regard  to  his  brother-in-law,  as  the 
following  letter  will  establish  : — 

Sir  Samford  Whittingharn  to  Sir  Edward  Paget. 

(Extract.) 

[38]  ^Conduit  Street,  28th  July,  1835. 

'My  dear  General,  —  I  will  not  apologize  for  not 
answering  your  letter  with  greater  punctuality,  because  it 
has  not  depended  upon  myself. 

'When  I  placed  my  statement  in  the  hands  of  Sir 
Eufane  Donkin,  and  requested  him  to  arrange  a  meeting 
with  Colonel  Napier,  he  gave  me  his  opinion  without 
hesitation — that  it  was  too  absurd  to  be  thought  of,  and 
that  he  must  be  allowed  to  come  to  an  explanation  with 
the  Colonel  (his  particular  friend)  on  the  subject 

'  A  long  correspondence  ensued,  and  the  result  is  that 
Hart  Davis  has  withdrawn  his  accusation  of  unfounded 
calumny ;  and  that  Colonel  Napier  will  state  my  explana- 
tion of  the  pecuhar  circumstances  under  which  I  was 
placed  at  Barrosa,  in  the  third  edition  of  his  work  on  the 
Peninsular  War,  now  about  to  appear. 

'  I  have  yielded  a  reluctant  consent  to  this  arrange- 
ment, because  I  conceived,  and  do  still  conceive,  that 
after  what  had  passed,  the  explanation  would  have  been 


408  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

more  proper,  and  certainly  more  in  harmony  with  my 
feehngs,  after  I  should  have  received  the  Colonel's  fire. 

'  Once  again  let  me  thank  you,  from  the  very  bottom  of 
my  soul,  for  the  deep  interest  you  have  taken  in  my  wel- 
fare. Your  friendship  and  esteem  are  the  glory  and 
honour  and  comfort  of  my  life.  I  knpw  of  no  earthly 
advantage  against  which  I  would  exchange  them. 
'  Most  devotedly  and  affectionately  attached, 

*  Samford  Whittingham.' 

Sir  Edward  Paget  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

<  E.  M.  C,  2m  Jtdy,  1835. 

*  Accept,  my  dear  good  friend,  my  most  sincere  and 
cordial  thanks  for  the  gratifying  letter  received  from  you 
this  morning.  In  spite  of  your  personal  feelings,  you 
must  allow  me  to  say  that  I  cannot  admire  sufficiently 
the  judicious  and  off-hand  course  pursued  by  Sir  Eufane 
Donkin  on  this  occasion.  Neither  was  it  possible  for 
Hart  Davis  to  do  otherwise  under  the  circumstances  of 
the  case  than  he  has  done.  I  will  not  attempt  with  pen 
and  ink  to  talk  over  this  long  and  interesting  history 
with  you ;  but  let  me  hope  that  the  day  is  at  hand,  when 
I  may  have  the  happiness  of  seeing  you  under  this  roof 
with  our  dear  and  excellent  friend  Hart  Davis.  Arrange 
your  own  time  with  him,  but  let  it  be  before  the  10th 
August,  as  I  have  engagements  after  that  day  for  a 
fortnight,  over  which  1  have  no  control.  Lady  Harriet 
most  cordially  joins  in  my  petition  to  you  both,  and  I 
rather  fancy  there  is  up  at  College  a  certain  little  A  17  * . 
who  will  not  be  sorry  for  such  an  arrangement. 

'E.  P.' 

*  Richard  Hart  Wliittingham,  youngest  son  of  Sir  Samford,  was  then  a 
college  cadet.  He  did  not  survive  his  father  two  years,  but  as  Adjutant  of 
the  71st  Highland  Light  Infantry,  he  had  already  obtained  the  affection  and 
esteem  of  his  Commanding  Officer,  Lieut. -Colonel  (now  General)  the  Hon. 
Charles  Grey,  and  of  his  brother  officers  to  an  astonishing  degree,  as  was 
communicated  after  his  death  to  the  Editor,  on  the  part  of  the  regiment. 


A  DOUBLE  BREACH  OF  FAITH.  409 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  neither  Sir 
Edward  Paget  nor  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  were  ever 
made  fully  acquainted  with  the  details  of  the  negotiation 
which  was  carried  on,  almost  in  spite  of  Sir  Samford, 
between  Sir  Eufane  Donkin  and  Sir  William  Napier,  in 
which  the  former  went  so  far  as  to  betray  the  intention  of 
Sir  Samford  Whittingham  not  to  return  the  fire  of  his 
adversary  !  Indeed,  as  Sir  Eufane  ^ was  resolved  at  all 
costs  to  impede  the  duel,  he  would  naturally,  as  involving 
his  own  breach  of  confidence,  conceal  from  Sir  Samford, 
those  details  which  under  a  half  transparent  veil  have 
been  published  in  the  Life  of  Sir  William  Napier,  after 
the  deaths  of  all  concerned.  Otherwise  the  affair  could 
not  possibly  have  ended  so  peacefully  as  it  did.  That 
Mr.  Davis  was  to  withdraw  his  accusation  of  unfounded 
calumny,  and  that  an  explanatory  note  was  to  appear 
in  future  editions  about  Barrosa,  and  that  at  least  partial 
justice  was  to  be  done  as  regards  Talavera,  was  it  appears 
all  that  Sir  Samford  or  Sir  Edward  Paget  were  ever  told 
of  Sir  Eufane  Donkin's  proceedings  ;  and  no  direct  com- 
munications ever  took  place  between  Sir  William  JSTapier 
and  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

It  is  quite  as  erroneous  therefore,  as  it  is  improbable, 
to  suppose  that  Sir  Samford  was  ever  made  acquainted 
with  the  style  and  tone  of  Sir  William's  conversations 
with  Sir  Eufane.  Till  the  publication  of  the  life  of  the 
former,  the  matter  appears  to  have  been  kept  secret 
between  the  two  officers  concerned ;  and  it  is  to  be 
regretted  that  it  was  ever  divulged. 

But  what  is  certain  is  that  there  has  been  a  most 
lamentable  double  breach  of  faith.  Not  only  has  the 
explanatory  note  printed  in  one  edition  since  disappeared 
for  ever ;  but  no  attempt  it  appears  was  ever  made  by 
Sir  Wilham  Napier  to  fulfil  the  other  promise  made  to  Sir 
Eufane  Donkin  (as  recorded  in  the  '  Life  of  Sir  Wilham  ') 
to  render  at  least  a  partial  justice  to  Sir  Samford  Whit- 


410  MEMOIR  OF  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

tingham  in  regard  to  the  battle  of  Talavera.  The  fact 
of  this  breach  of  promise  is  not  denied  by  the  editor 
of  Sir  William  Napier's  Life,  whose  defence  is  that  it 
must  have  been  caused  by  accidental  forgetfulness ;  and, 
for  the  reasons  mentioned  in  the  Preface,  the  Editor  of 
this  work  would  gladly  take  a  charitable  view  of  the 
question.  But  all  he  can  do  with  honour,  under  exist- 
ing circumstances,  is  to  leave  the  matter  to  the  judg- 
ment of  his  readers.  Justice  and  love  of  fair  play  are 
supposed  to  be  precious  in  the  sight  of  Englishmen,  and 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  old  Eoman  saying  still  holds 
good  in  a  Christian  country,  that,  'truth  is  great  and 
will  prevail.' 

Before  the  affair  with  Napier  was  settled,  Sir  Samford 
applied  for  an  interview  v^th  the  Duke  of  Wellington. 
The  following  was  the  reply  : — 

The  Duke  of  Wellington  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

[Apsley  House]  '  London,  20th  July,  1835. 

'  My  dear  General, — I  shall  be  very  happy  to  see  you 
if  you  will  call  here  on  Wednesday  at  12  o'clock. 

'  Ever  yours  most  faithfully, 
'  Wellington.' 

'  General  Sir  S.  Whittingham,  K.C.B., 

'  No.  38;  Conduit  Street,  Hanover  Square.' 

What  took  place  on  this  occasion  has  never  been  re- 
corded,  at  least  as  far  as  the  Editor  is  aware.  Indeed  so 
httle  given  to  boasting  was  the  subject  of  this  Memoir, 
that  his  own  children  would  now  know  very  little  of  his 
merits,  had  these  not  been  so  liberally  done  justice  to  in 
the  writings  (lately  come  to  light)  of  others;  and  these 
the  great  and  distinguished  amongst  men. 

Another  interview  took  place  the  following  month,  as 
testified  in  the  following  note  : — 


INTERVIEW   WITH   LORD   GLENELG.  411 

'  Colonial  Oppice,  10th  August^  1835. 

'  Lord  Glenelg  presents  his  compliments  to  Sir  S.  Whit- 
tingham,  and  begs  he  will  favour  him  with  a  call  here  on 
Wednesday,  at  12  o'clock.' 

The  General  was  still  desirous  of  employment  in  the 
colonies  ;  his  pecuniary  losses,  chiefly  from  causes  over 
which  he  had  no  control,  though  partly  owing  to  his  too 
great  generosity  and  hospitality,  prevented  his  deriving 
any  permanent  advantage  from  his  long  service  in  India. 

This  interview  with  Lord  Glenelg  did  not  lead  to  any 
immediate  employment.  Mr.  Davis  was  no  longer  in  Par- 
liament, and  the  great  Duke  had  long  since  retired  from 
the  command  of  the  army.  The  regiment  which  the 
Duke  had,  in  September  1830,  assured  Mr.  Davis  should 
be  quickly  given  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  was  still 
withheld,  from  want  of  sufficient  interest  to  press  the 
point.  Not  that  his  political  opinions  interfered  with  his 
advancement.  His  friend,  Lord  William  Bentinck,  was  of 
the  Liberal  party,  and  his  Lordship  had  convinced  him — 
so  far  as  he  meddled  with  politics — that  moderate  pro- 
gress and  reform  was  the  wisest  and  safest  course  in 
England.  But  in  truth  he  belonged  to  no  party,  and 
such  men  are  apt  to  be  neglected. 

While  waiting  for  employment  in  London,  he  carried 
out  his  favourite  plan  of  sending  his  eldest  military  son  to 
Berlin,  his  admiration  of  the  Prussians  and  their  system 
being  always  very  great ;  and  surely  recent  events  have 
strikingly  manifested  the  prescience  of  his  judgment  in 
this  particular  case.* 

Towards  the  close  of  this  year  Sir  Samford  must  have 
received  the  following  rather  hurried  note  from  the  com- 
piler of  the  'Wellington  Dispatches': — 

*  At  this  time,  excepting  an  ofRcer  attending  on  the  Duke  of  Cumberland 
(now  Sir  Charles  Wyke  late  envoy  at  Hanover)  there  was  not  another  British 
officer  in  Berlin,  so  little  was  the  merit  of  the  Prussian  system  then  ap- 
preciated in  Great  Britain ! 


412  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM . 

Lieutenant- Colonel  Gurwood  *  to  Sir  Samford 
Whittingham. 

'  PoBTSMOUTH,  4^A  December,  1836. 

'  My  dear  General, — ^I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for 
the  paper  enclosed  in  your  letter  of  the  2nd,  the  perusal 
of  which  was  very  instructive.  I  wish  I  could  have  had 
it  [in  time]  to  insert  [it]  in  its  proper  place,  in  the 
4th  volume,  just  published ;  although  not  being  of  the 
Duke,  I  should  be  subjected  to  criticism.  But  the  memo- 
randum elucidates  points  not  elsewhere  defined.  Do  you 
wish  me  to  return  it  ?  If  so  I  will,  when  your  pleasure 
on  the  subject  is  made  known  to  me.  Previous  to  my  visit 
to  Paris  in  September  I  waited  upon  Mr.  B.  Frere  to 
request  he  would  have  the  goodness  to  copy,  or  have 
copies  [made]  of  Lord  Wellington's  letters  to  him  when 
Charge  d'AfFaires  at  Seville,  after  Marquis  Wellesley's 
departure.  There  are  thirteen  of  them,  of  which  I  gave 
him  the  heads  taken  from  the  Duke's  Indexes,  and  they 
are  of  December  1809.  All  the  Duke's  papers  of  that 
month  and  of  the  following  year  were  lost  in  the  Tagus  ; 
and  the  only  means  I  have  of  fiUing  up  the  vacuum  is  by 
applying  to  those  to  whom  they  were  written.  Mr.  Frere 
had  the  goodness  to  tell  me  that  he  would  search  for 
them.  As  you  are  so  near  a  neighbour  to  him  in  Savile 
Eow,  would  you  oblige  me  by  presenting  my  compH- 
ments  to  him,  and  ascertain [ing]  whether  he  has  yet  had 
the  opportunity  of  visiting  his  papers  for  those  in  ques- 
tion? I  will  also  trouble  you,  as  a  Spaniard,  to  tell 
me  how  Cazalegas  or  Casalegos,  near  the  Alberche,  is 
written.  In  the  names  of  places,  I  always  adhere  to 
Lopez  when  I  am  in  doubt.  ]!^otwithstanding,  I  find 
in  the  hurry  and  annoyance  of  correcting  the  press,  the 
following  errors  have  escaped  me,  which  is  the  more 

*  Colonel  Gurwood  was  also  one  of  the  many  officers  who  had  reason  to 
complain  of  the  injustice  or  inaccuracy  of  the  great  military  historian.  See 
United  8ervice  Magazine  of  February  1868. 


COMPILER  OF  THE  '  DISPATCHES '  CONSULTS  SIR  SAMFORD.  413 

stupid   in  me,  as  I   pledged  myself  to  adhere  (in  the 
preface)  to  the  exact  spelhng  of  the  country  :  — 

Naval  Moral  for  Navalmoral. 

Fuente  Dueiias  for  Fuentiduena. 

Zarga  Mayor  for  Zarza  la  Mayor. 

Puente  de  Arzob  for  Puente  del. 

Brigel  for  Brujel. 

Casalejos  for  Cazalegas. 

Albuquerque  for  Alburquerque. 

Fuente  del  Mestre  for  Fuentes  del  Maestro. 

All  these  I  should  have  put  right  with  more  attention 
to  Lopez.  Your  letter  staggered  me  about  Albuquerque  ; 
but  on  referring  to  three  of  his  own  letters  to  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  in  1810, 1  found  it  Albur,  the  correct  spelling 
of  the  town  in  which  I  was  quartered  in  1808. 

'  Very  sincerely  yours, 

'  J.  GURWOOD.' 

'  Major-General,  Sir  S.  Wbittingham,  K.C.B.' 

On  the  24th  August,  1835,  Sir  Samford  received  an 
invitation  from  Lord  Auckland,  then  First  Lord  of  the 
Admiralty,  to  dine  at  the  Admiralty  the  following  Wed- 
nesday, to  meet  the  Hon.  William  Osborne,*  his  Lord- 
ship's nephew,  and  the  friend  of  the  General ;  but  tem- 
porary indisposition  prevented  the  meeting. 

Lord  Auckland  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

(Private.) 

'Admikaltt,  27th  August,  1835. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — I  was  sorry  yesterday  not  to  have  had 
the  pleasure  of  your  company  to  dinner,  and  trust  that 
the  cause  of  your  absence  will  not  be  of  long  continuance. 
If  you  should  be  well  to-morrow,  perhaps  you  would 
favour  me  with  a  visit  between  one  and  two  o'clock. 


*  Mr.  (now  Lord)  William  Godolphin  Osborne  was  about  to  re-enter  the 
army  as  Ensign  26tli  Cameronians,  to  become  Military  Secretary  to  tlie 
Governor-General  of  India. 


414  MEMOIR  OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

Otherwise  I  would  endeavour  to  find  you  at  home  on 
Sunday. 

'  I  am,  most  faithfully  yours, 

'  Auckland/ 

The  Editor  was  at  this  time  on  the  Continent,  and  was 
ignorant  of  the  cause  of  these  meetings.  Probably  Lord 
Auckland  was  already  appointed  to  the  Governor-General- 
ship of  India,  or  contemplated  its  acceptance,  and  was 
therefore  glad  to  obtain  information  from  so  experienced 
and  able  an  Indian  as  Sir  Samford  Whittingham.  No 
copies  of  the  letters  of  the  latter  to  Lord  Auckland  are 
now  extant. 

From  the  Same  to  the  Same, 

(Private.) 

'  Admtbalty,  ^th  September,  1835. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — I  have  to  thank  you  for  the  letter 
which  I  have  received  here  this  morning,  and  to  express 
my  regret  that  I  did  not  see  you  when  we  interchanged 
visits  on  Sunday.  But  I  will  give  my  best  attention  to 
the  suggestions  I  have  from  time  to  time  received  here  in 
writing  from  you,  both  in  regard  to  persons  and  to 
measures  ;  though  with  the  latter  I  am  afraid  that  con- 
siderable hesitation  must  be  felt  in  any  case  where  they 
are  liable  to  be  attended  with  great  expense. 

'  Most  faithfully  yours, 

'  Auckland.' 

It  was  not  till  July  1836,  that  Sir  Samford  was  offered 
any  employment.  He  then  accepted  the  command  of 
the  Forces  in  the  Windward  and  Leeward  Islands,  which 
was  now  separated  from  the  civil  government,  and  there- 
fore so  wretchedly  paid,  that  the  mere  outfit  required 
would  absorb  more  than  the  first  year's  salary.  Otherwise 
the  appointment  was  a  flattering  one,  as  it  was  pointed 
out  that  the  regiments  scattered  over  the  extensive  com- 


LORD   W.    BENTINCK'S   DINNER  TO   LORD   AUCKLAND.      415 

mand  were  many  of  them  in  a  slack  state  of  discipline, 
and  required  an  energetic  and  able  commander  to  remedy 
the  evil.  He  was  moreover  to  have  the  local  rank  of 
Lieutenant-General,  with  a  military  secretary  and  two 
aides-de-camp.  In  thanking  Sir  Herbert  Taylor,  who 
appears  to  have  been  instrumental  in  obtaining  the  em- 
ployment, Sir  Samford  pointed  out  to  him  that  however 
gratifying  to  him  the  manner  of  his  appointment,  it  was 
in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view  very  unsatisfactory.  More- 
over, he  took  that  opportunity  of  alluding  to  the  long- 
deferred  promised  Eegiment.  But  his  patience  on  that 
matter  was  still  to  be  further  tried,  though  five  years  had 
elapsed  since  the  memorable  promise  of  the  great  Duke  to 
Mr.  Hart  Davis. 

In  1836  Sir  Samford  and  his  son,  who  had  returned 
from  Berlin,  passed  some  days  at  Sheerness,  as  the  guests 
of  the  Hon.  Admiral  and  Mrs.  Fleeming,  at  the  Admiral's 
official  residence.  There  they  met  for  the  first  time,  the 
Admiral's  nephew  John,  thirteenth  Lord  Elphinstone, 
who  had  just  been  appointed  Governor  of  Madras,  and 
whom  the  Admiral's  eldest  son  was  one  day  to  succeed 
for  a  very  brief  space  as  fourteenth  lord.  Lord  Elphin- 
stone was  then  a  tall  handsome  aristocratic-looking 
Captain  of  the  Blues,  and  his  selection  for  so  high  a  post, 
whilst  still  so  young  and  inexperienced,  created  a  con- 
siderable sensation  both  in  England,  and  in  India. 

Before  embarking  for  Barbadoes,  a  dinner  at  which 
Sir  Samford  and  his  son  were  present  is  worthy  of 
recollection. 

It  took  place  on  a  Friday  in  the  season  of  1836,  at 
the  Clarendon  Hotel,*  when  Lord  William,  the  ex- 
Governor-General  of  India,  entertained  Lord  Auckland, 
his  successor,  and  about  a  dozen  other  gentlemen  several 
of  whom  had  been,  or  were  about  to  be.  Governors. 

*  The  private  note  of  invitation  has  no  date  but  ^  Clarendon  Hotel,'  and 
asks  Sir  S.  "Whittingham  and  his  son  for  the  following  Friday. 


416  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

Lord  Elphinstone,  and  Mr.  Mountstuart  Elphinstone,  and 
Mr.  Cole,  brother  to  Lord  Enniskillen,  were  amongst  the 
gubernatorial  guests.  Lord  George  Bentinck,  tlien  a 
handsome  young  gentleman  of  sporting  celebrity,  was 
also  present ;  but  no  one  then  imagined  the  important 
position  which  he  would  one  day  hold  in  the  political 
world.  It  was  a  very  interesting  party,  and  the  kind  and 
unaffected  manners  of  the  distinguished  host  extended 
its  genial  influence  over  all  the  guests.  It  is  probable 
that  Lord  Burghersh  (the  late  Earl  of  Westmoreland) 
was  present  at  this  dinner,  though  the  Editor  does  not 
remember  the  fact.  It  is  certain  that  Sir  Samford  Whit- 
tingham  met  his  Talavera  friend  at  Lord  William  Ben- 
tinck's  table  about  this  period. 

Before  leaving  England,  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  was 
presented  to  King  WiUiam  IV.  by  Lord  Glenelg ;  and  he 
has  left  in  his  own  handwriting  a  memorandum  of  the 
interview  with  His  Majesty.  It  does  not  state  the 
locality,  but  it  was  probably  at  Windsor  that  it  took 
place.  The  King  was  personally  unknown  to  him.  In 
comparison  with  George  IV.  it  was  '  a  King  that  knew 
not  Joseph': — 

'  On  the  5th  October,  1836,  I  was  presented  to  His 
Majesty  by  Lord  Glenelg,  to  kiss  hands  on  my  appoint- 
ment to  the  command  of  His  Majesty's  forces  in  the 
Leeward  and  Windward  Islands. 

'  Upon  kissing  the  royal  hand,  and  returning  thanks 
for  the  honour  of  the  appointment  and  the  rank  of 
Lieutenant-General,  the  King  was  pleased  to  say, 

' "  Your  rank  of  Lieutenant-General  was  a  necessary 
consequence  of  your  appointment  to  the  command  of  the 
largest  body  of  troops  I  have  in  my  colonies,  except  the 
East  Indies.  It  is,  next  to  the  East,  the  most  important 
command  I  have  to  give." 

'His  Majesty  here  paused  for  a  short  time,  and  then 
continued  : 


WILLIAM   IV. 'S   FLATTERING    FINALE.  417 

' "  What  events  may  take  place,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years,  in  the  West  Indies  it  is  impossible  to  say.  But 
I  feel  quite  sure,  that  in  any  and  every  case,  the  com- 
mand of  my  forces  in  the  Leeward  and  Windward  Islands 
could  not  be  in  better  hands  than  yours." 

'  The  King  then  asked  in  what  regiment  I  had  com- 
menced my  services,  I  said,  "in  the  1st  Life  Guards, 
and  then  in  the  13th  Light  Dragoons,  in  which  regiment 
I  was  Captain  when  I  sailed  with  Brigadier  Craufurd, 
as  Deputy  Assistant  Quartermaster-General,  for  South 
America.  After  the  failure  of  the  attack  on  Buenos 
Ayres  I  returned  to  England." 

"■'  I  knew  you  had  been  in  the  13th  Light  Dragoons," 
said  the  King,  "  though  some  one  said  not ;  and  after 
your  return  from  South  America  where  did  you  go?" 

' "  To  Spain,  Sire,  where  I  was  present  at  the  battle  of 
Baylen  under  General  Castanos,  and  at  the  battle  of 
Talavera  under  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley.  From  that  time 
I  served  till  the  end  of  the  war  on  the  Eastern  Coast ; 
having  under  my  command  a  corps  d'armee  of  Spanish 
troops,  composed  of  ten  regiments  of  infantry,  twelve 
of  cavalry,  and  a  considerable  train  of  horse  and  foot 
artillery.  After  the  peace,  I  went  to  the  West  Indies  as 
Governor  of  Dominica." 

' "  I  knew  you  had  been  in  the  West  Indies,"  said  His 
Majesty,  "but  I  did  not  know  in  what  Island." 

' "  I  remained  in  the  West  Indies  two  years,  and  then 
went  to  the  East  as  Quartermaster-General  of  the  King's 
troops.  On  my  promotion  to  the  rank  of  Major-General, 
I  was  appointed  to  the  military  districts  of  Cawnpore 
and  Meerut.  In  the  first,  I  had  24,000  men  under  my 
command ;  in  the  second,  26,000.  After  thirteen  years' 
service  in  India,  I  returned  fifteen  months  since,  to 
England.  Your  Majesty  has  now  been  graciously  pleased 
to  appoint  me  to  the  command  of  your  army  in  the 
Leeward  and  Windward  Islands,  and  assuredly  no  eflbrt 

E  E 


418  MEMOIR   OF   Sm   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

on  my  part  shall  be  wanting  to  the  faithful  and  effective 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  high  post  with  which  your 
Majesty  has  been  pleased  to  honour  me." 

'"I  am  fully  satisfied,"  said  the' King,  "I  could  not 
have  made  a  better  choice  ;  and  you  carry  with  you 
my  best  wishes  for  your  health,  happiness,  and  success." 

' "  I  hope  you  are  satisfied,"  said  Lord  Genelg,  on  our 
returning  from  the  presence.' 

Of  course  in  so  brief  an  interview  Sir  Samford  had  not 
time  to  give  the  King  more  than  an  outline  of  his  services, 
confined  to  what  he  could  remember  on  the  spur  of 
the  moment.  He  left  out  indeed  the  most  important  of 
them  ;  his  having  raised,  organized,  and  led  to  victory, 
the  Majorca  division. 

At  this  period  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  lost  one  of 
his  best  and  most  estimable  friends,  the  late  Sir  William 
Knighton,  so  long  the  friend  and  confidant  of  George  IV. 
The  letter  which  he  wrote  to  Sir  Herbert  Taylor,  an- 
nouncing the  probably  approaching  end  of  that  amiable 
and  distinguished  man  is  not  forthcoming,  but  the  follow- 
ing was  the  reply  : — 

Sir  Herbert  Taylor  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

'  WiNPSOR  Castle,  dth  October,  1836. 

'My  dear  Sir  Samford, — I  feel  very  grateful  to  you 
for  your  kind  attention  in  writing  to  me  respecting  our 
poor  friend  Sir  William  Knighton,  and  I  sincerely  la- 
ment that  your  account  of  his  state  is  so  unfavourable, 
and  holds  out  so  little  hope  of  recovery.  I  shall  deeply 
regret  his  loss  as  I  love  and  respect  him ;  and  I  am 
greatly  indebted  to  him  for  many  and  unceasing  acts 
of  kindness  and  friendship  to  myself  and  mine,  and 
of  confidence  under  circumstances  which  proved  his 
sincerity. 

'  You  have  done  me  a  real  favour  by  expressing  to  this 


WELLINGTON   ON   THE  DEATH   OF   SIR  W.    KNIGHTON.    419 

excellent  man  my  feelings  towards  him,  and  my  sympathy 
in  his  present  state  of  suffering ;  especially  as  the  close 
attendance  to  which  I  am  doomed  here  and  elsewhere 
deprives  me  of  the  facilities  of  calling  personally  in 
Stratford  Place  to  enquire  after  him.  There  is,  however, 
no  day  that  I  do  not  receive  an  account  of  him.  I  hope 
that  poor  Lady  Knighton  is  able  to  bear  up.  I  heard 
that  it  was  not  till  very  recently  that  she  was  made  aware 
of  poor  Sir  William's  critical  state.  It  is  satisfactory  to 
know  that  he  received  the  sacrament  yesterday,  which 
would  so  much  contribute  to  the  ease  and  comfort  of 
his  mind. 

'  Believe  me  to  be,  ever,  my  dear  Sir  Samford,  most 
sincerely  yours, 

'  H.  Taylor.' 

^  Major-General  Sir  Samford  Whittingliam,  K.C.B.' 

'P.S. — I  made  the  communication  which  you  wished 
me  to  make  to  the  King,  who  received  it  kindly.  His 
Majesty  also  entered  with  kind  interest  into  the  situa- 
tion of  our  suffering  friend.' 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham  appears  soon  afterwards  to 
have  transmitted  to  the  Duke  of  Wellington  the  news 
of  Sir  William  Knighton's  death,  as  proved  by  His  Grace's 
reply  :— 

The  Duke  of  Wellington  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

'  Walmee  Castle,  12th  October,  1836. 

'  My  dear  General, — I  sincerely  lament  with  you  the 
loss  of  our  friend  Sir  William  Knighton. 

'  I  beg  you  to  take  an  opportunity  of  presenting  my 
best  respects  and  condolence  to  his  afflicted  family. 

'  I  shall  have  occasion  hereafter  to  communicate  with 
his  son  upon  the  late  King's  affairs.    I  am  not  acquainted 

£  £   2 


420  MEMOm   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

with  him  excepting  from  the  report  of  his  poor  father ; 
and  I  entertain  a  great  respect  for  him. 

'  Believe  me,  ever  yours  most  faithfully, 

'  Wellington.' 

'  Lieut.-General  Sir  Samford  Wliittirgliam,  K.C.B.'  * 

Sir  Samford  Whittinghatn  to  the  Duke  of  Wellington. 

'  United  Service  Club,  14th  October,  1836. 

'  My  Lord  Duke, — I  took  an  opportunity  this  morning 
of  obeying  your  Grace's  orders  by  presenting  your  best 
respects  and  condolence  to  the  afflicted  family  of  the 
late  Sir  William  Knighton ;  and,  at  the  same  time, 
of  informing  his  son,  that  you  would,  hereafter,  have 
occasion  to  communicate  with  him  upon  the  late  King's 
affairs.  He  desired  me  to  express  to  'your  Grace  how 
much  he  feels  honoured  by  the  flattering  mention  you 
are  pleased  to  make  of  him,  and  to  say  that  at  an  early 
period  after  the  funeral  of  his  poor  father,  he  will  be 
ready  to  attend  your  pleasure. 

'1  have  the  honour  to  be,  your  Grace's  most  obedient 
humble  servant, 

'  Samford  Whittixgham.' 


*  His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  K.G., 
'  &c.,  &c.,  &c.' 


The  following  letter  alludes  to  one  of  the  visits  whicli 
Sir  Samford  had  paid  to  Sir  Edward  and  Lady  Harriet 
Paget  since  his  return  to  England,  no  other  records  of 
which  now  exist.  The  worry  and  anxiety  which  the 
Napier  affair  had  given  to  Sir  Edward  Paget  had  evi- 
dently not  cooled  his  affection  for  his  dear  and  valued 
friend,  any  more  than  the  poverty  of  his  circumstances 
which  made  employment,  however  badly  paid,  indispen- 
sable to  him  : — 

*  The  Duke  in  the  original  wrote  '  G.C.B.'  by  mistnke,  for  Sir  Samford 
did  not  live  long  enough  to  have  the  A'.C.B.  conveittd  into  G.C.B. 


SIB    EDWARD   PAGET's   FAREWELL.  421 

'  Royal  Military  College,  18/7*  October,  1836. 

'  Many  thanks  to  you,  my  dear  Whittingham,  for  your 
letter  of  the  15th ;  which  somehow  or  other  has  only 
reached  me  this  day.  As  you  must  go,  I  will  only  say 
that  I  am  glad  that  "  everything  is  at  last  settled,"  and, 
I  ardently  hope  and  pray — in  a  manner  much  more 
suitable  to  your  interests  than  you  gave  me  any  reason  to 
expect  when  I  had  the  happiness  of  last  seeing  you  at 
Sandhurst.  When  I  make  use  of  this  word  "  happiness," 
I  pray  you  to  consider  it  as  exclusively  applicable  to  the 
sight  (perhaps  the  last)  and  society  of  one,  whose  ardent 
and  unmerited  friendship  and  attachment  to  me,  I  never 
can  be  sufficiently  grateful  for.  Au  reste  I  must  acknow- 
ledge, that  your  departure  for  the  West  Indies,  the  inade- 
quacy of  the  means  afforded  you  to  maintain  the  high 
position  in  which  you  are  placed  there,  the  circumstances 

which  led  you  to  accept  of  this  command 

have  occasioned  me  a  degree  of  sorrow^  and  distress  of 
mind,  which  nothing  alleviates  but  the  contemplation  of 
the   noble    and   buoyant   spirit   which   enables   you   so 

manfully  to  defy  the  shafts  of  adversity It  is 

most  kind  of  you  to  think  of  writing  to  me  from  the 
West  Indies.  ...  I  will  ascertain  and  let  you  know 
whether  Polchet  *  has  received  your  cigars.  Poor  old 
fellow,  he  is  nearly  done.  I  ought  to  have  written  and 
thanked  you  a  fortnight  ago  for  the  beautiful  specimen 
you  have  sent  us,  through  Grey,f  of  your  military  draw- 
ing of  Hampstead  and  its  neighbourhood.  I  had  no 
idea  till  I  saw  it  of  your  powers  in  this  way.  It  will  be 
framed  and  hung  up  in  the  office  in  the  good  company  of 
some  of  old  Jarry's  best  performances. 

*  A  professor  of  tlie  Senior  Department,  Sandhurst,  who  had  also  held 
a  similar  situation  at  High  Wycombe,  when  Sir  Samford  was  there  as 
a  pupil. 

t  Then  a  subaltern  in  the  83rd  regiment  (as  was  Sir  Samford's  son),  now 
the  well-known  Governor,  Sir  George  Grey.  He  was  at  this  period  a 
student  at  the  senior  department  of  the  College. 


422  MEMOIR   OP   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

'  God  bless  you,  my  dear  good  friend,  and  with  kindest 
regards  from  Lady  Harriet,  believe  me  ever 

'  Most  faithfully  and  affectionately  yours, 

'  Edward  Paget.' 

Another  friend  did  not  conceal  his  surprise  at  Sir  Sam- 
ford's  acceptance  of  so  wretchedly  paid  a  post,  as  may  be 
seen  by  the  following  letter : — 

Lord  William  Bentinch  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingharn. 

*  Welbecz,  22nd  Octobe)-,  1836. 

*  My  dear  Sir  S.  Ford, — So  you  are  again  about,  after 
so  many  wanderings  and  gallant  adventurings,  to  set  out 
upon  a  new  course,  which  I  sincerely  trust  may  obtain 
for  you  all  the  honour  and  gratification  that  you  can  pos- 
sibly desire.  For  riches  you  have  shown  your  contempt, 
and  there  are  few  men  who  go  to  the  East  who  possess 
this  noble  self-denial.  One  may  regret,  though  one 
cannot  but  admire,  this  singular  quality:  and  I  hope,  at 
any  rate,  this  additional  claim,  which  this  new  service 
gives  to  distinction,  may  ensure  an  early  appointment  to 
a  regiment.  I  am  glad  you  were  well  pleased  with  His 
Majesty's  reception.  There  cannot  be  a  better  hearted 
man  than  our  gracious  Sovereign ;  and  his  decided,  and 
above  all  his  equal  patronage  of  the  two  professions  entitle 
him  to  the  gratitude  and  respect  of  every  soldier  and 
sailor 

'  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  Lady  William  is  not  so  well 
as  she  was,  and  we  fear  she  will  be  obliged  to  go  to 
some  warmer  climate,  and  we  think  of  Tours.  It  is  not 
far  removed  either  from  Paris  or  from  England ;  and 
it  must  be  equally  dry  with  Paris  if  not  warmer ;  with 
less  temptations  to  exposure  and  fatigue.     In  the  early 

spring  we  may  yet  make  a  march  upon  Paris 

'  Yours  ever  sincerely, 

'  W.  Bentinck.' 


LORD   WILLIAM   BENTINCK'S   PHILOSOPHY.  423 

One  more  letter  from  Lord  William,  Sir  Samford  re- 
ceived before  sailing  for  Barbadoes  : — 

Lord  William  Bentinck  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

(Extract.) 

'  Welbeck,  Qth  November,  1836. 

'  My  dear  Sir  S.  Ford, — Although  in  the  midst  of  the 
hurry  of  your  departure,  I  must  still  be  allowed  to 
occupy  a  moment  of  your  time,  with  my  acknowledg- 
ments for  your  most  kind  and  friendly  letter.  The 
contents  of  it  have  given  more  pleasure  to  Lady  William 
than  myself,  who  feels  a  great  deal  more  for  my  repu- 
tation than  I  do.  I  look  for  no  praise  and  for  no  public 
gratitude.  The  curse  of  India  is  that  private  interest  not 
only  predominates  over  that  of  the  public,  but  [that]  it  is 
exclusively  the  reigning  power.  It  is  a  foreign  dominion 
without  any  control  from  the  voice  of  the  governed. 
And  it  is  nominally  controlled  by  those  in  Europe,  with 
whom  private  interest  is  as  much  so  as  in  India,  the 
exclusively  reigning  power.  I  have  just  gone  counter  to 
all  these  sordid  and  selfish  interests,  and  in  this  genera- 
tion, I  must  have  the  natural  reward,  odium,  calumny, 
and  ill  will.  But  these  principles,  like  all  others  of 
reform  founded  on  reason,  moderation  and  the  general 
good,  which  I  have  upheld,  must  have  their  triumph  in 
the  end.  And  I  am  quite  satisfied  in  the  meantime  with 
the  satisfaction  of  my  own  conscience,  and  the  certainty 
of  these  results  upon  the  happiness  of  the  Indian  Empire. 
Pardon  so  much  egotism. 

'  Ever  with  great  regard, 

'  W.  Bentinck.' 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham  appears  to-  have  had  some 
interviews  with  Lord  Palmerston  before  leaving  England, 
and  to  have  presented  him  with  a  copy  of  his  Me- 
moir on  Eussia  and  British  India.     The  following  is  a 


424  MEMOIR   OF  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

copy  of  a  letter  he  subsequently  addressed  to  that  popular 
statesman,  then  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  : — 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham  to  Viscount  Palmerston. 

^  United  Service  Club,  Pall  Mall,  1th  Novemler,  1836. 
'  My  Lord, — The  accompanying  map,  which  comprises 
in  one  sheet  the  country  between  Constantinople  and  the 
Burmese  empire,  was  published  a  short  time  before  I  left 
Calcutta.  It  should  have  accompanied  the  Memoir  I  had 
the  honour  of  presenting  to  your  Lordship. 

'  In  the  sketch  of  the  Eussian  empire  her  immense 
latter  acquisitions  are  brought  to  notice  by  being  coloured 
with  green. 

'Will  your  Lordship  permit  me  to  beg  your  accept- 
ance  of  both  these   maps,  of  little  cost,  but  of  much 
convenience.     I  have  the  honour  to  be,  my  Lord, 
'  Your  obedient  humble  servant, 

'Samford  Whittingham/ 

^  The  Lord  Viscount  Palmerston.' 

The  following  was  his  Lordship's  reply  :  — 
Viscount  Palmersto7i  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

'  Stanhope  Stkeet,*  8^^  November,  1836. 

'My  dear  Sir, — I  beg  you  to  accept  my  best  thanks 
for  the  very  interesting  paper  which  you  left  with  me 
the  other  day,  and  which  I  have  read  with  all  the  atten- 
tion due  to  the  importance  of  the  subject  of  which  it 
treats,  and  to  the  ability  with  which  it  has  been  drawn 
up.  The  local  knowledge  and  the  mihtary  experience 
which  have  been  brought  to  bear  upon  the  matters  which 
you  have  discussed,  render  the  Memorandum  pecuharly 
valuable.     I  am  also  much  obhged  to  you  for  your  per- 

*  Stanliope  Street  is  the  address  written  on  the  back  of  the  letter,  in 
Sir  Samford's  hand,  but  the  writing  in  the  note  itself  is  illegible. 


PORTSMOUTH   HOSPITALITIES.  425 

mission  to  keep  the  two  maps  which  you  sent  me  yes- 
terday. 

'  My  dear  Sir,  yours  faithfully, 

'  Palmerston.' 

^  Lieut-General  Sir  S.  F.  Whittingliam,  &c.,  &c.,  &c.' 

Before  sailing  for  Barbadoes  contrary  winds  detained 
the  General  and  his  Staff  for  many  days  at  an  hotel  in 
Portsmouth,  where,  by  his  invitation,  his  son's  friend 
Thomas  St.  Aubyn  of  the  83rd  f  joined  the  party.  The 
Lieutenant-Governor  Sir  Thomas  MacMahon,  and  (es- 
pecially) the  Port-Admiral  Sir  Philip  Durham,  lightened 
the  tediousness  of  delay  by  their  hospitalities.  At  the 
table  of  the  former  the  travellers  met  the  second  son 
of  the  Duke,  the  late  Lord  Charles  Wellesley  then 
quartered  with  his  regiment  in  the  garrison.  Captain 
Considine  of  the  69th  Eegiment  (formerly  of  the  52nd 
Eegiment)  the  Military  Secretary  to  Sir  Samford,  who  was 
one  of  the  best  officers  in  the  army,  though  amongst 
the  least  fortunate  in  promotion,  joined  his  Chief  at  Ports- 
mouth, as  did  Lieutenant  Henry  B s,  who  then  com- 
menced his  long  and  fortunate  career  on  the  Staff  as 
aide-de-camp. 

After  embarking  in  the  '  Tulloch  Castle^  towards  the 
close  of  November,  baffling  winds  occasioned  a  return 
of  the  party  to  Portsmouth,  and  it  was  not  till  the  22nd 
December  that  the  wind  became  fair  enough  to  allow  of 
quitting  the  harbour. 

*  Brother  of  Lady  Knollys. 


426  MEMOIR  OF  SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 


CHAPTEE  XXII. 

1837—1839. 

SIR  SAMFORD's  second  service  in  the  west  indies — SEEDS  OF 
DISSENSION  SOWN  IN  VAIN  AT  BARBADOES — A  PROFITLESS  COMMAND — 
CARES  FOR  THE  HEALTH  AND  COMFORT  OF  SOLDIERS  —  MUTINY  OF 
THE  BLACK  TROOPS  IN  TRINIDAD— A  ROMAN  VIEW  OF  MILITARY  DISCI- 
PLINE— A  FRATERNAL  DIFFERENCE—' THE  BEST  INSPECTING  GENERAL 
WE   HAVE  ' — SIR  CHARLES  PAGET'S  FLATTERING  LETTER  TO  SIR  SAMFORD 

POPULARITY   AT   THE   EXPENSE  OF  DISCIPLINE   DESPISED — APPOINTED 

COLONEL  OF  THE  71ST  HIGHLAND  LIGHT  INFANTRY — CONGRATULATIONS 
OP  SIR  JOHN  MACDONALD  THE  ADJUTANT-GENERAL  —  SIR  CHARLES 
PAGET'S  '  HEART  AND  SOUL  REMARK  '  TO  HIS  BROTHER — AN  INVALUABLE 
INSPECTING  GENERAL— SIR  DE  LACY  EVANS — THE  HOUGOMONT  HERO — DR. 
ARCHIBALD  HAIR's  CONGRATULATIONS — LORD  GLENELG's  LETTER — DOCTOR 
COLERIDGE,  BISHOP  OF  BARBADOES — SIR  SAMFORD's  JOY  AT  THE  EMANCIPA- 
TION OF  THE  NEGROES — INSPECTION  VISIT  TO  DOMINICA— SIR  SAMFORD's 
CAPACITY  FOR  LABOUR — A  FIERY  INTERVIEW  BETWEEN  WELLINGTON  AND 
PICTON— YELLOW  FEVER  IN  ITS  LAST  STAGE — SATISFACTION  OF  HOME 
AUTHORITIES — DEATH  OF  ADMIRAL  SIR  CHARLES  PAGET — HIS  RELATIVES 
ADVISE  SIR  SAMFORD  TO  RESIGN — MR.  B.  FRERE's  LETTER  TO  SIR 
SAMFORD  —  APPOINTED  COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF  AT  MADRAS  —  PARTING 
COMPLIMENTS   FROM   THE   GOVERNOR  AND   ASSEMBLY— DEPARTURE. 

It  was  in  an  exceptionally  important  command  that  Sir 
Samford  Whittingliam  served  for  the  second  time  in  the 
West  Indies ;  and  although  on  this  occasion  his  post 
was  nominally  only  a  mihtary  one,  he  was  really  also 
much  employed  by  Government  in  matters  of  a  civil 
nature.  Moreover,  according  to  the  best  authority,  the 
then  large  garrison  of  the  Windward  and  Leeward 
Islands  was  generally  in  rather  slack  order,  and  required 
a  firm  and  able  hand  to  restore  due  disciphne  and 
military  efficiency.  In  some  of  the  stations  the  military 
Commander  was  also  ea;  officio  the  civil  ruler,  and  if 


SEEDS   OF   DISSENSION   SOWN    IN  VAIN.  427 

found  unlit  in  the  latter  capacity  (in  the  eyes  of  the 
Governor-General  at  Barbadoes,  or  of  the  Secretary  of 
State  for  the  Colonies,  at  home),  the  only  remedy  was  to 
remove  him  from  his  mihtary  command,  which  gave  rise 
to  unpleasant  complications  in  one  instance,  accompanied 
by  a  most  harassing  and  voluminous  correspondence. 

Again,  the  Governor-General  at  Barbadoes  was  a 
general  officer,  acting  solely  in  his  civil  capacity,  and  as 
such  superior  in  authority  to  his  senior  military  officer, 
the  Commander  of  the  Forces.  In  such  a  situation  (to 
which  a  truly  wise  and  prudent  Administration  should 
never  expose  any  person),  a  high  sense  of  duty,  great 
temper,  and  a  certain  modest  abnegation  of  self,  became 
indispensably  necessary,  on  the  part  of  the  military  com- 
mander, to  the  successful  management  of  business.  The 
only  rational  course  would  have  been,  to  have  had  one 
instead  of  two  generals,  and  to  have  united  the  civil 
and  military  administration  in  his  hands ;  or,  if  that 
was  undesirable,  to  have  appointed  a  civilian  Governor, 
to  act  with  a  military  commander.  But  the  exigencies 
of  patronage  too  often  set  at  defiance  all  the  dictates 
of  reason  and  experience ;  and  in  this  particular  case, 
the  exceptional  character  of  the  Commander  of  the 
troops  saved  the  British  Government  from  reaping  that 
discord  which  it  had  inadvertently  done  its  best  to 
sow.  Lieutenant-General  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  and 
Major-General  Sir  Evan  Murray  Macgregor  were  excel- 
lent friends  both  publicly  and  privately  during  the  whole 
period  in  which  they  acted  together  ;  nor  did  the 
former  ever  make  the  slightest  difficulty  in  marching  past 
and  saluting  his  junior  officer  on  the  Eoyal  birthday 
with  all  the  respect  due  to  the  representative  of  his 
Sovereign. 

In  preparing  the  West  Indian  negroes  for  emancipa- 
tion, the  Colonial  Secretary  of  State  and  the  Secretary-at- 
War  (as  he  was  then  styled)  gave  plenty  of  occupation  to 


428  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

the  military  as  well  as  to  the  civil  commander.  In  1837 
the  prospect  was  that  in  1838  domestic  apprenticeship 
was  'to  cease  altogether,  and  in  the  year  1840  the 
field  labourers  were  to  participate  in  the  same  advan- 
tages, and  the  whole  population  to  become  free.'*  But 
eventually  the  Island  Assembly  decreed  the  total  eman- 
cipation on  the  1st  August,  1838. 

Meantime,  Sir  Samford's  private  affairs  were  in  a 
bad  way;  and  remembering  the  great  Duke's  speech  to 
Mr.  Davis  in  1830,  few  readers  will  wonder  if  some 
despondency  had  at  last  possessed  the  mind  of  one  of 
the  most  sanguine  of  mortals : — 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'  Barbadoes,  \Wi  April,  1837. 

'  As  to  the  Eegiment,  I  really  have  lost  all  hope.  And 
were  I  not  surrounded  by  those  I  so  much  love,  and  who 
look  to  me  for  aid,  assistance,  and  support,  I  should  give 
up  the  service  altogether ;  for  a  Commander  of  the  Forces 
on  2000/.  per  annum  cuts,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  a  de- 
plorable figure.  In  a  former  letter  to  Hart  I  have 
entered  into  minute  details  on  financial  matters,  and  have 
pointed  out  the  hardship  of  imposing  poverty,  in  addition 
to  a  bad  climate,  on  the  few  remaining  years  of  an 
old  soldier's  life.  And,  having  said  my  say,  I  shall 
not  again  refer  to  the  subject ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
repeat  what  I  have  so  often  said,  that  we  are  as  happy  a 
quartet  as  ever  yet  met  together;  and  whilst  we  all  do 
our  duty  to  the  very  best  of  our  power,  we  shall  con- 
tinue, under  God's  blessing,  to  sit  at  ease,  and  hope 
for  better  times.  For  myself  there  is  no  merit  in  all  this. 
I  am  never  so  happy  as  when  living  amongst  soldiers, 
and  doing  everything  in  my  power  to  mitigate  the  suffer- 
ings and  evils  to  which  they  are  of  necessity  exposed. 
They  now  get,  five  days  in  the  week,  fresh  provisions ; 

*  Letter  to  Mr.  Davis^  dated  ^  Barbadoes,  23rd  February,  1837.' 


CARES  FOR  THE  HEALTH  AND  COMFORT  OF  SOLDIERS.  429 

and  I  am  doing  everything  in  my  power  to  exempt 
the  European  soldier  from  those  distant  night  duties 
which  have  proved  so  very  detrimental  to  his  health. 
If  the  suggestions  contained  in  the  letters  I  have  sent 
to  Hart  *  be  attended  to,  I  have  no  doubt  of  making  the 
troops  of  this  command  a  model  of  good  discipline,  whilst 
the  mortality  will  be,  under  God's  blessing^  reduced  to 

ono-half ! ' 

On  the  21st  May,  he  recapitulates  to  Mr.  Davis  the 
advantages  which  he  hopes  to  gain  for  soldiers  and 
their  families  in  the  West  Indies.  'The  men,  women, 
and  children  will  have  fresh  provisions  instead  of  salt; 
distant  night-duties  will  be  done  by  black  troops  instead 
of  white  ;  the  white  troops  will  be  removed  from  the 
most  unhealthy  islands.  The  garrison  of  Barbadoes  will 
be  the  reserve  of  this  army,  and  a  real  school  of  in- 
struction. All  this  and  more  I  hope  to  see  realized 
before  I  again  embark  for  old  England.  Do  not  think 
that  I  am  building  castles  in  'the  air.  To  the  best  of 
my  power  and  ability,  I  do  my  duty  in  that  station  of  life 
unto  which  it  has  pleased  God  to  call  me  ;  and  my 
ambition  is  "  to  live  and  die  in  the  saddle,"  in  conform- 
ity to  my  duty  to  my  country  and  to  my  children.' f 

In  another  letter  he  teUs  the  same  correspondent  that, 
even  with  the  greatest  economy,  he  could  not  hope  in 
five  years  to  save  enough  in  this  command  to  repay 
the  cost  of  his  outfit !  Assuredly  he  was  not  one  of 
the  Sovereign's  hard  bargains. 

His  Military  Secretary,  Captain  Considine,  an  excellent 
and  highly  esteemed  officer,  was  now  obliged  from  illness 
to  return  on  sick  leave  to  England,  from  whence  he  kept 
up  a  copious  and  interesting  correspondence  with  his 
Chief  in  Barbadoes. 

*  He  liad  sent  to  his  nephew  a  copy  of  the  suggestions  he  had  sent  to  the 
official  authorities. 

t  This  wish  was  granted,  but  sooner  than  the  asker  intended. 


430  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

This  year  was  marked  by  a  mutiny  of  the  black  troops 
in  Trinidad,  very  easily  put  down  by  a  company  of 
the  89th  Eegiment,  but  necessitating  a  court-martial, 
which  condemned  three  men  to  be  shot  and  a  few  others 
to  be  transported. 

In  a  letter  dated  '  Unionville,  30th  July,'  he  reverts  to 
the  standing  grievance  in  these  words  :  '  Tlie  mystery 
of  the  Eegiment  I  cannot  solve  !  I  suppose  they  think  I 
can  live  upon  sweet  words.' 

His  high  sense  of  duty  when  the  Military  Secretaryship 
vacated  was  exhibited  in  an  almost  old  Eoman  man- 
ner. His  son  and  aide-de-camp  had  for  change  of  air 
and  scene  volunteered  to  be  a  member  of  the  General 
Court-Martial  at  Trinidad,  appointed  to  try  the  mutineers, 
and  was  therefore  absent  when  Captain  Considine  left  on 
sick  leave.  An  aide-de-camp's  duties  are  whatever  the 
General  chooses  to  employ  him  upon.  Having  had  from 
long  absence  actually  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  his 
son,  on  return  to  Europe,  almost  as  a  stranger,  a  mutual 
shyness  at  first  subsisted.  Finding  that  he  was  not  con- 
sulted on  business,  and  considered  as  devoted  to  pleasure, 
the  son  resigned  himself  to  his  fate,  and  doubtless  some- 
what too  willingly,  youth  being  fond  of  pleasure.  The 
General,  therefore,  in  the  absence  of  him  he  deemed 
an  idler,  appointed  his  other  aide-de-camp,  a  most  excel- 
lent and  exemplary  officer,  to  the  vacant  Secretaryship,  as 
he  was  most  fidly  justified  in  doing.  The  only  rebuke, 
which  the  Editor  believes  Sir  Samford  ever  gave  to  his 
beloved  brother-in-law,  was  for  his  interference  in  this 
matter.  Mr.  Davis  and  his  clever  eldest  son  regarded 
these  matters  as  nearly  everyone  does  ;  that  if  an  advan- 
tage is  available,  a  son  should  have  the  preference,  if  not 
unfitted  for  the  situation.  And  as  they  had  brought 
up  their  young  relative,  they  thought  that  they  might 
express  their  opinions  in  his  favour.  And  this  Mr.  Davis 
evidently  did,  although  the  letter  is  lost. 


A  FRATERNAL  DIFFERENCE.  431 

The  following  was  Sir  Samford's  reply  : — 
To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'Barbadoes,  2lst  October,  1837. 

'  I  grieve  that  you  should  have  entered  into  a  question 
purely  mihtary,  and  the  discussion  upon  which  must  be 
conclusively  left  to  the  judgment  of  every  general  officer 
commanding,  for  upon  him  the  whole  responsibility  of 
everything  connected  with  his  command  must  rest.  No. 
private  considerations,  however  strong  or  closely  con 
nected,  must  even  for  a  moment  be  put  in  competition 
with  his  views  of  what  his  duty  exacts.  This  has  been 
my  creed  through  life,  and  as  a  public  servant  I  have 
never  deviated  from  it.'  [He  then  describes  how  he  was 
obliged  at  once  to  name  some  one  present,  and  named 
his  senior  aide-de-camp,  who  most  generously  desired 
it  should  be  only  '  till  further  orders,'  and  continues]  :  '  It 

was  Considine's   opinion    that  would   not   accept, 

because  he  would  subject  himself  to  the  extreme  drudgery 
of  an  office  the  most  difficult  and  most  laborious  in 
the  army,  and  particularly  as  he  had  never  from  his  first 
arrival  at  Barbadoes  taken  the  smallest  interest  in  any 
military  concern  whatever.  However,  I  am  happy  to 
say  hj3  appears  to  have  now  made  up  his  mind  to  dedicate 
himself  entirely  to  the  execution  of  his  manifold  duties.' 
[He  then  notifies  his  intention  of  appointing  his  son 
Acting    Military   Secretary   from   the    1st   of  the   next 

month,  and  adds]  :    '  If  chooses   to   give  up  his 

whole  time  and  exclusive  attention  to  his  military  duties, 
he  will  ever  find  me  most  anxious  to  promote  his  wel- 
fare ;  but  as  a  general  officer  in  command,  I  must  act 
according  to  my  views  of  the  good  of  the  service.' 

On  the  1st  December,  1837,  he  WTites,  ' is  work- 
ing hard,  and  constant  in  his  attendance  at  the  office,' 
and  so  the   General   and   father  was   satisfied.     Owing 


432  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

to  the  number  of  islands  and  dependencies,  and  also 
because  so  many  of  the  commanding  officers  were  also 
Governors,  the  Military  Secretaryship  required  not  only  a 
good  man  of  business,  but  one  of  sound  judgment,  and 
the  Chief  was  therefore  justified  in  requiring  other  quali- 
ties than  relationship  to  himself  as  a  recommendation 
for  the  appointment. 

Before  this  time  Sir  Samford  must  have  received  a 
letter  from  Captain  Considine,  dated  '26,  Duke  Street,  St. 
James's,  22nd  October,  1837,'  containing  amongst  other 
things  the  account  of  a  long  conversation  which  he 
had  just  had  with  Sir  John  Macdonald,  the  Adjutant- 
General,  '  who  pronounced  the  highest  eulogiums  on 
you^  for  ability,  tact,  prudence ;  and  wound  up  by  declar- 
ing emphatically,  "  Whittingham  is  the  best  inspecting 
General  we  have.  His  Reports^  all  are  excellent.  We 
are  much  pleased  with  him,  and  pray  tell  him  so  from 
me.'' 

'  He  then  got  into  good  humour,  praised  your  letters,  so 
good,  so  well  put  together^  called  you  "  a  clever  fellow," 
and  said  a  number  of  kind  things,  "  it  was  a  shame 
you  had  not  a  Eegiment,  one  you  must  have  very  soon." 
Warmly  praised  your  judgment  in  settling  so  well  "  that 

fool.,'' — as  he  termed  him — Sir 's  business,  and 

expressed  the  highest  satisfaction,  when  I  told  him  on 
what  friendly  terms  you  and  Sir  Evan  Macgregor  were. 
This,  he  said,  would  delight  Lord  Hill,  please  the  Colonial 
Office,  and  that  you  were  just  the  prudent  man  to  get  on 
with  these  Governors.' 

In  the  same  voluminous  letter  occurs  this  passage  : 
'  You  will  be  pleased  to  learn,  for  Sir  John  slipped  it  out, 
that  Cutlar  Fergusson  is  actively  employed,  arranging 
for  the  sanction  of  Parhament,  a  plan  to  pay  Judge 
Advocates  well,  and  employ  military  men  of  talent  ex- 
clusively, having  one  at  every  large  station.     Sir  John 


SIR   CHARLES   PAGET'S   FLATTERING    LETTER  433 

little  knew  it  was  yow  plan.  For  it  appears,  from 
his  statement  to  me,  that  it  is  exactly  what  you  recom- 
mended.' 

Another  passage  is  worthy  of  extraction  :  '  You  have 
seen  M. -General  George  Napier's  appointment  to  the 
Cape.  I  met  him  yesterday  with  his  son,  who  was  in 
my  company,  52nd  [Eegiment],  and  accompanies  his 
father  as  A.  D.  C.  George  JSTapier  is  the  quiet  one  of 
the  family,  —  very  different  from  the  author  of  the 
"  Peninsula."  He  asked  me  about  you,  and  spoke  hand- 
somely of  your  character.^  He  is  a  fine,  generous,  nice 
fellow,  minus  the  right  arm,  but  spare  and  active.  He 
tells  me  that  they  gave  him  £600  to  find  his  passage, 
but  added  he,  "  they  charge  me  £560  for  my  commission 
fees  as  Governor."  However,  his  income,  £5000  a-year, 
will  fully  compensate  him.' 

On  the  25th  October,  Captain  Considine  mentions 
his  interview  with  Lord  Fitzroy  Somerset :  '  His  Lordship 
then  got  on  the  Trinidad  mutiny,  and  expressed  him- 
self gratified  at  your  promptitude  in  the  whole  affair.' 

Towards  the  close  of  1837,  being  applied  to  from 
Halifax  (during  the  rebellion  in  Canada),  Sir  Samford 
Whittingham  took  upon  himself  the  responsibility  of 
sending  there  the  65th  Eegmient,  as  a  reinforcement. 
This  will  be  best  and  most  briefly  explained  by  the 
following  demi-official  letter  to  him  from  the  brother 
of  his  dearest  friend  : — 

Admiral  the  Hon.  Sir  Charles  Paget  to  Sir  Samford 
Whittingham. 

'  Admikalty  House,  Bermuda,  2ith  Jamuay,  1838. 

'Dear  Sir, — I  beg  leave  to  seize  the  first  opportunity 
to   express  to  your  Excellency  my  humble  thanks  for 

*  It  is  pleasant  to  the  Editor  to  find  that  even  thirty  years  ago  one 
Napier  at  least  did  j  ustice  to  Sir  Samford. 

F  F 


434  MEMOIR   OF   SIR    S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

the  admirable  decision  and  promptitude  which  has  been 
manifested  by  your  Excellency  in  embarking  so  imme- 
diately the  65th  Eegiment  on  board  the  "  Cornwallis " 
for  Halifax,  where  they  were  most  heartily  welcomed 
by  Sir  Colin  Campbell,  who  was  enabled  by  the  arrival  of 
that  efficient  corps,  to  detach  his  only  remaining  regi- 
ment, the  34th,  to  Lower  Canada. 

'  Your  Excellency  will  be  further  pleased  to  know  that 
you  have  thus  anticipated  the  intentions  of  Her  Majesty's 
Government ;  since  I  find  orders  have  been  sent  from 
England  to  forward  the  65th  from  the  West  Indies  to 
the  station  where  it  has  already  arrived. 

'By  the  last  accounts  I  have  received  from  Sir  Colin 
Campbell,  there  is  every  reason  to  hope  that  rebellion  has 
received  such  prompt  and  signal  defeat  as  to  make  it 
reasonable  to  believe  that  no  further  effort  will  be  made 
to  disturb  the  peace  and  subordination  of  those  provinces. 
I  have  the  honour  to  remain, 

'  Your  Excellency's  most  faithful  servant, 

'  Charles  Paget.' 

'  His  Excellency  Lieut. -General 
'  Sir  S.  Whittingham,  K.C.B., 
'  &c.,  &c.,  &c: 

Exceedingly  popular  with  all  good  officers,  Sir  Samford 
Whittingham  was  nevertheless  a  terror  to  the  inefficient 
and  undeserving,  in  spite  of  the  habitual  extreme  gentle- 
ness of  his  manner  of  proceeding.  He  had  sometimes 
to  displace  officers  from  their  governments  or  commands, 
and  sometimes  to  report  them  for  unfitness  for  their  duty. 
He  was  averse  to  that  system  where  there  is  one  law 
for  the  officer,  and  another  for  the  non-commissioned 
officer  and  soldier.  He  was  not  afraid  (as  many  Generals 
are)  to  do  his  duty,  and  the  authorities  in  our  easy-going 
system  sometimes  considered  him  too  severe  to  effete  and 
inefficient  commanders.  He  scorned  to  gain  popularity 
at  the  expense  of  discipline  and  efficiency.    Neither,  how- 


APPOINTED   COLONEL   OF   THE   71st   HIGHLANDERS.     435 

ever,  did  he  go  to  the  other  extremity,  which  has  been 
witnessed,  that  of  courting  the  men  by  publicly  telling 
them  that  their  insubordination  was  the  fault  of  their 
officers.  It  was  this  conscientious  performance  of  his 
duty  and  distribution  of  equal  justice,  that  justified  the 
praise  given  to  him  by  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  army, 
speaking  of  course  the  sentiments  also  of  Lord  Hill.  All 
the  voluminous  documents  concerning  his  command  in 
the  West  Indies  would,  if  investigated,  bear  out  this 
judgment.  Indeed  his  merits  were  never  denied.  It 
may  be  truly  said  of  him,  that  few  men  ever  got  more 
praise,  or  less  rewards. 

The  Eegiment  came  at  last,  late  though  it  was.  He 
was  appointed  Colonel  of  that  regiment,  at  the  head 
of  one  of  the  battalions  of  which  (having  two  battalions  in 
the  Peninsular  war)  his  early  friend  the  gallant  Henry 
Cadogan  had  fallen  at  Yittoria ;  thus  losing,  in  the  service 
of  his  country,  the  earldom  that  awaited  him. 

Captain  Considine  to  Sir  Sam  ford  Whittingham. 

(Extract.) 

'  Cakgreen,  Cornwall,  1st  April,  1838. 
'  Nothing   which   has    occurred   for   many   years  has 
afforded  me  more  pleasure,  than  seeing  in  the  '  Gazette 
of  the  30th  March,  your  appointment  to  the  colonelcy  of 
the  71st  [Highland]  Light  Infantry.     I  do  most  sincerely 
felicitate  you  on  the  occasion,  as  Lord  Hill  could  hardly 
have   selected   a   finer   regiment    to   place   you   at    the 
head  of     The  longed  for  event  has  been  a  tardy  boon; 
but   you   have   every  reason   to   be   satisfied   with   the 
71st !     Charles  Grey,*  its  Lieutenant- Colonel,  is  an  excel- 
lent promising  young  chief  of  battalion,  and  he  already 
knows  your  predilection  for  light  troops  from  my  cor- 
respondence with  him,  and  will,  I  am  persuaded,  be  glad 

*  A  younger  son  of  Earl  Grey,  the  Premier  of  the  Reform  Bill,  now 
Major-General,  and  well-known  member  of  the  Royal  Household :  also  the 
Editor  of  "  The  Early  Days  of  the  Prince  Consort,^' 

F  r  2 


436  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

to  see  your  name  on  the  top  of  the  hst  of  the  71st.    They 
embark  on  the  12Lh.' 

From  Sir  John  Macdonald,  Adjutant-General. 

^  Horse-Guards^  2nd  Ap-il,  1838. 

'My  dear  Whittingham, —  Pray  accept  my  heartiest 
congratulations  upon  your  appointment  to  the  Colonelcy 
of  the  71st,  one  of  the  finest  regiments  in  the  army ; 
an  appointment  which  cannot  fail  to  be  gratifying  to 
you  in  the  extreme,  and  which  has  given  me  the  sincerest 
pleasure.  I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  assure  you,  that 
all  your  measures,  in  your  high  and  responsible  situation, 
have  hitherto  given  Lord  Hill  the  utmost  satisfaction,  and 
I  can  say,  as  head  of  this  department,  that  all  your  inter- 
course with  it  is  most  creditable  to  you,  and  highly 
beneficial  to  the  interests  of  the  public  service. 

'Your  regiment  is  in  splendid  order,  and  all  but  on 
the  beach  for  Canada.  Your  Lieutenant-Colonel  (Grey)* 
is  a  clever  capable  young  fellow,  that  has  been  bred 
in  the  best  schools  (the  60th  and  43rd)  and  thoroughly 
understands  his  business.  Always  my  dear  Whittingham, 
'  Most  faithfully  yours, 

'  John  Macdonald.' 

The  Hon.  Sir  Edicard  Paget  to  Sir  Sarnford 
Whittingham. 
'  Royal  Hospital,  CHELSEA,t  ^Ist  March,  1838. 

'  My  dear  Whittingham, — I  now,  thank  God,  can  write 
and  thank  you  for  your  letter  of  the  19th  January, 
with  a  light  heart.  Yesterday's  Gazette  announced  your 
appointment  to  the  Colonelcy  of  the  71st  Eegiment ;  and 
I  verily  believe  I  do  not  deceive  myself  in  thinking 
that  the  event  will  not  be  more  joyous  to  you  than  it 
is  to  me.      You  have  too  long  waited  for  it:    but  it 

*  General  Grey  is  now  Colonel  of  the  same  regiment  liimself. 
t  Sir  Edward  had  left  the  Military  College,  and  been  appointed  Governor 
of  the  Royal  Hospital,  Chelsea. 


AN    INVALUABLE   INSPECTING   GENERAL.  437 

has  come  at  last,  and  may  you  long  live  to  enjoy  the 
honour,  and  its  emoluments.  It  is  no  trifling  gratification 
to  me  moreover  to  learn,  that  your  services  in  the 
West  Indies  are  duly  appreciated  at  the  Horse-Guards. 
I  promise  you  that  your  zeal  and  ready  acquiescence 
in  the  appeal  made  to  you  by  my  brother  Charles  for  aid 
to  Canada,  are  estimated  by  him  as  they  deserved  to  be, 
and  drew  from  him  the  heart  and  soul  remark,  "  Would 
that  I  could  always  find  a  Whittingham  in  my  hour 
of  need."  We  talked  you  well  over  before  he  left  this 
country,  and  I  shall  rejoice  to  hear  that  you  have 
met ;  for  I  am  greatly  mistaken  if  you  do  not  find 
him  a  fellow  quite  to  your  taste. 

'  Most  affectionately  yours, 

'  Edward  Paget.' 

Captain  Considine  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

(Extract.) 

'  Army  and  Navy  Club,  St.  James's  Square, 

'  11th  April,  1838. 

[After  describing  some  conversations  with  the  influen- 
tial Dr.  Hair] — 'I  next  saw  Sir  John  Macdonald.  He 
was  very  kind  indeed.  He  always  has  a  very  long  chat 
with  me  ;  and  in  the  present  case  said  :  "  My  friend 
Sir  Samford  gives  me  great  satisfaction.  He  is  an  in- 
valuable Inspecting  General.  We  have  none  like  him 
anywhere  employed.  Here  are  some  of  our  distinguished 
men,  such  as  Sir  J.  Colborne,  Sir  Lionel  Smith,  and 
the  late  poor  Ponsonby!  from  whom  we  never  could 
get  more  extended  information  in  the  way  of  answers 
to  our  queries  in  the  Confidential  Eeports,  than  yes !  no ! 
to  the  end  of  the  chapter." 

'  I  have  seen  Sir  De  Lacy  Evans,  and  dined  with 
him.*  He  asked  a  good  deal  about  you,  and  told  the 
story  Sir  Loftus  Otway  had  before  mentioned  to  me, 

*  Captain  Considine  had  been  Military  Secretary  to  Sir  De  Lacy,  in  Spain. 


438  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

relative  to  your  having  had  the  power  to  have  made 
[King]  Ferdinand,  on  his  return  after  the  war,  swear 
to  the  Constitution,  and  I  explained  that  it  was  a  mistake 
....  Many  other  points  I  dwelt  on,  which  appeared 
to  set  his  mind  right  about  you,  and  he  in  conclusion 
expressed  himself  complimentarily  about  you. 

'I  met  at  the  Horse- Guards  Sir  James  Macdonnel  (the 
Hougomont  hero),  who  is  on  the  eve  of  starting  for 
Canada  in  the  "  Edinburgh "  (74),  to  command  the 
Brigade  of  Guards.  Sir  James  asked  me  many  questions 
about  you  and  your  inspections  of  the  troops.  He  made 
me  describe  your  person,  &c.  He  is  himself  a  rigid 
inspector  and  drill  man. 

'  Whilst  writing  Hair  has  appeared  at  my  side.  He 
reiterates  his  promise  of  writing  to  you  by  the  packet : 
but  the  little  man  is  so  occupied  with  the  Duke  of  Eich- 
mond  and  Lord  Hill,  that  I  know  not  how  to  depend  on 
his  promise.' 

'  The  little  man,'  the  friend  of  Lord  Hill,  and  of  the 
late  popular  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Eichmond,  did  keep 
his  promise  of  writing  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham 
better  than  Captain  Considine  expected  : — 

Doctor  Archibald  Hair  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

(Extract.) 
*  Hyde  Park  Barracks,  London,  IQth  April,  1838. 
'  Dear  Sir  Samford, — I  know  not  how  to  tell  you  how 
much  pleasure  I  feel  in  being  able,  at  last,  to  offer 
you  my  most  sincere  congratulations  on  your  appoint- 
ment to  a  Eegiment.  I  am  more  pleased  and  delighted 
than  I  can  tell  you,  although  I  am  well  aware  no  General 
in  the  service  merits  it  more  than  you  do.  The  Eegi- 
ment itself  must,  I  am  sure,  be  very  satisfactory  to 
you.  There  are  few  better  in  the  service ;  and  it  is, 
I  understand  from  various  quarters,  in  first-rate  order, 


DR.  hair's  congratulations.  439 

and  is  commanded  by  an  old  friend  of  Considine's  and 
mine,  Charlie  Grey,  than  whom  there  is  not  a  better 
officer  in  the  service. 

'  Believe  me,  my  dear  Sir  Samford,  none  of  your 
friends  rejoice  more  than  I  do  at  your  appointment  to  the 
71st  Highland  Light  Infantry. 

'  Canada  and  the  Coronation  are  the  chief  topics  of 
conversation  at  present.  There  must  be  a  brevet,  I 
should  think,  but  as  yet  little  or  nothing  is  known  on  the 
subject.  With  a  thousand  best  wishes  for  your  welfare  in 
every  respect,  believe  me  to  be,  with  the  greatest  respect 
and  esteem,  dear  Sir  Samford, 

'  Yours  most  faithfully  and  sincerely, 

'  Archibald  Hair.' 

The  Minister  for  War  and  the  Colonies  also  was 
pleased  to  express  his  satisfaction  on  this  occasion,  to 
Sir  Samford's  nephew, — in  a  manner  implying  that  his 
own  recommendation  of  the  appointment  had  not  been 
wanting  : — 

Lord  Glenelg  to  Mr.  Harford. 

^  London,  ^Oth  March,  1838. 

'My  dear  Harford, — I  am  delighted  to  tell  you  that 
Whittingham  is  to  have  the  71st  Eegiment. 

'  Yours  ever  truly, 
'  Glenelg.' 

<  J.  S.  Harford,  Esq.'* 

To  resume  the  fraternal  correspondence : — 

'  Barbadoes,  9th  May,  1838. — It  would  be  impossible  to 
express  half  my  grateful  feelings  to  Her  Majesty  for  her 
gracious  favour  in  appointing  me  to  the  71st  Eegiment; 
a  regiment  second  to  none  in  the  whole  army,  and 
for  which  there  were  so  many  pretenders.  The  strongest 
feeling   in  my  mind  is  the  deepest  humility,  proceed- 

*  Author  of  the  *  Recollections  of  Wilberforce.' 


440  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

ing  from  the  magnitude  of  the  mercies  I  am  daily 
experiencing,  and  the  complete  conviction  of  my  own 
unworthiness. 

'  It  is  most  grateful  to  me  to  learn  that  the  publication 
of  that  paper  on  India  has  done  me  no  harm  with  the 
Directors.*  It  was  not  my  fault ;  but  that  in  public 
affairs  is  a  poor  excuse.  India  is  the  land  of  ambi- 
tion ;  but  Madras  is  the  spot  my  heart  is  set  upon. 
For  there  I  have  two  sons,  who  would  derive  great 
advantage  from  my  presence  ;  at  the  same  time  that 
the  large  force  under  my  command  would  enable  me 
to  render  the  State  good  service.' 

'  Unconville^  22nd  May. — I  never  recollect  being  so 
absorbed  in  business  as  in  the  last  few  weeks.  Nor 
is  it  to  be  wondered  at  when  we  recollect  that  this  is  the 
year  '38,  and  that  the  complete  emancipation  on  the  first 
of  August  next,  though  adopted  here  and  in  many  other 
colonies,  is  still  rejected  in  others  ;  where,  in  consequence, 
a  bad  feeling  may  arise, .  and  produce  mischief  But 
the  blessed  work  of  emancipation  will  assuredly  find 
favour  in  the  sight  of  our  Lord ;  and  success  will  attend 
those  efforts  which  are  constantly  and  firmly  directed 
to  the  extension  of  Christianity. 

'  We  dine  with  the  Bishop  to-morrow ;  and  I  shall 
have  a  long  talk  with  Mrs.  Coleridge  and  his  Lord- 
ship on  the  subject  of  schools.  I  have  received  Sir 
William  Knighton's  Life,  but  have  not  a  moment  to  spare 
as  yet.' 

'  Barhadoes,  2Qth  June. — I  should  not  like  to  quit  this 
command  before  the  spring  of  '42,  when  I  trust  all  Lord 
Glenelg's  just  and  honourable  plans  will  be  consolidated, 
and  placed  on  such  a  footing,  as  to  give  his  Lordship  no 
further   trouble.     The   emancipation   of  the   blacks   on 

*  The  Editor  cannot  explain  this  affair.  The  publication,  whatever  it 
was,  took  place  evidently  without  the  authority  of  its  author,  as  might 
readily  be  believed. 


SIR  samford's  joy  at  the  emaxcipation.         441 

the  1st  of  August  next  will  be  carried  into  effect,  I  have 
no  doubt,  throughout  this  command  ;  and  Jamaica  has 
already  set  the  brilliant  example !  How  would  Mr. 
Wilberforce  rejoice,  how  would  he  bless  the  name  of  that 
Colonial  Minister,  under  whose  able  guidance  the  great, 
the  blessed  work  of  freedom  to  the  poor  negro  has 
been  effected,  could  he  witness  the  realization  of  the 
hopes  he  had  from  the  commencement  of  his  career  so 
fondly  cherished.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  my  soul  rejoices 
to  see  the  noble  w^ork  so  nearly  completed.  You,  who 
know  me  better  than  I  know  myself,  will  enter  into 
all  my  feelings  of  joy,  at  having  been  permitted  to  be  an 
humble  instrument  in  the  completion  of  the  great  and 
good  work ! ' 

On  the  21st  of  June  he  writes  to  Lady  William 
Bentinck  that  he  had  at  last  succeeded  in  procuring 
for  her  a  small  collection  of  humming  birds,  and  expected 
a  larger  supply  from  Jamaica. 

It  has  been  shown  that  when  he  considered  his  son 
as  idle  and  fond  of  pleasure,  he  had  delayed  appoint- 
ing him  to  act  as  Military  Secretary  in  the  absence  of 
Captain  Considine.  Perhaps  that  trial  was  useful ;  or, 
possibly,  in  spite  of  his  old  Eoman  theories,  his  paternal 
feelings  got  the  better  of  the  General.     At  all  events 

he  at  this  time  writes  of  the  new  acting  secretary, ' is 

become  one  of  the  best  and  steadiest  men  of  business 
I  am  acquainted  with.  He  never  neglects,  delays,  or 
misunderstands  any  business  I  put  into  his  hands.  But 
his  health  has  suffered  from  excess  of  occupation  in 
this  trying  climate,  and  he  will  return  to  England  for  six 

or  eight  months,  as  soon  as  Considine  and  B s  arrive. 

I  shall  go  to  Antigua,  St.  Kitts,  Nevis,  &c.,  previous 
to  their  arrival ;  then  return  to  Barbadoes,  take  them  up, 
and  proceed  to  Berbice.' 

Of  the  official  visits  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingliam  to  the 


442  ^klEMOIR    OF   SIR   S.    F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

various  islands  in  liis  command,  it  will  liere  only  be 
observed  that  about  the  end  of  February  1838  he  had 
paid  his  first  inspection  visit  to  Dominica,  where  he 
was  well  received,  and  found  that  the  memory  of  his 
former  popularity  as  Governor  there  was,  after  the  lapse 
of  sixteen  years,  still  green  and  fresh  on  the  island. 

On  the  26th  October,  1838,  he  announces  to  Mr.  Davis 
that  his  acting  Military  Secretary  is  going  on  sick  leave, 
his  MiHtary  Secretary  and  other  Aide-de-Camp  being 
about  to  return  from  their  leaves ;  the  Commander  of  the 
Forces  himself  alone  obtaining  no  change  or  relaxation, 
though  also  needing  it  greatly. 

In  this  letter  he  observes  of  the  Military  Secretary- 
ship : — 

'  This  command  is  so  extended  and  the  duties  so  com- 
plicated ;  cases  are  so  continually  occurring  which  require 
a  clear  judgment,  the  quantity  of  business  is  so  very 
great,  the  correspondence  so  enormous,  that  I  don't  think 
a  better  school  could   be  found  in  the  whole   British 

army ;    and   has   now   conducted   this   important 

department  for  twelve  months ! ' 

At  this  time  the  civil  as  well  as  military  correspon- 
dence w^as  very  great ;  the  Colonial  Office,  and  that  of 
the  Seer etary-at- War,  having  called  upon  the  General  for 
a  variety  of  reports  relating  to  the  negroes,  and  to  their 
future  emancipation  and  conduct,  such  as  are  not  usually 
addressed  to  a  military  commander.  The  collection  of 
this  information  from  many  islands  was  an  arduous  task. 
Moreover,  Sir  Samford  was  not  the  man  to  do  a  thing  in 
a  perfunctory  manner,  just  enough  to  escape  censure ; 
but  whatever  he  undertook  was  thoroughly  done,  making 
work  enough  for  himself  and  his  Staff.  He  however 
invariably  took  the  lion's  share,  even  of  the  details,  his 
capacity  for  mental  labour  having  ever  been  perfectly 
astonishing. 


FIERY  INTERVIEW  BETWEEN  WELLINGTON  AND  PICTON.  443 

That  portion  of  his  general  Staff",  which  he  appointed 
himself,  in  the  lower  grades  of  the  Adjutant -General's 
and  Quartermaster-General's  department,  were  invariably- 
able  and  zealous  officers,  whatever  might  be  the  case  with 
those  appointed  from  home.  Captain  Martin — of  a  family 
of  almost  hereditary  admirals.  Captain  Trollope,  now 
Major-General,  and  Captain  King,  now  Colonel,  were  most 
useful,  excellent,  and  laborious  assistants,  as  was  Lieu- 
tenant, now  Major-General,  O'Halloran. 

The  head  of  the  Adjutant-General's  department  was  an 
amiable  and  willing  man,  and  that  of  the  Quartermaster- 
General's  department,  if  not  great  at  pen  and  ink,  was  a 
Peninsular  hero,  and  a  very  popular  Amphitryon,  from 
whom  the  General  acquired  a  first-rate  receipt  for  turtle 
soup,  and  whose  dinners  rivalled  those  of  his  Chief  He 
had  been  the  principal  aide-de-camp  of  Sir  Thomas  Pic- 
ton  in  the  war,  and  the  manager  of  his  household.  He 
had  a  fund  of  amusing  anecdotes,  which  he  was  fond  of 
relating  at  the  social  board.  There  was  one  of  a  fiery 
and  hasty  interview  between  Wellington  and  Picton,  as 
they  stood  on  a  high  hillock  apart  from  their  Staff*,  who 
coukl  hear  their  loud  voices  without  distinguishing  the 
w^ords ;  though  they  were  evidently  angry.  And  the 
narrator  greatly  amused  his  listeners  by  imitating  the  gra- 
dually increasing  loudness  of  the  speakers,  up  to  the  part- 
ing climax  and  hurried  separation. 

He  also  told  how  on  one  occasion  he  had  gone  on 
ahead,  and  had  ordered  a  dinner  to  be  prepared  for  his 
General  and  Staff*  at  the  house  of  a  Spaniard.  When  they 
had  all  sat  down  a  few  minutes.  Sir  Thomas  became  quite 
indignant  to  find  that  he  was  taken  little  notice  of;  and 
that  all  the  attentions  of  the  master  of  the  house  and  of 
his  servants  were  bestowed  on  the  aide-de-camp ;  whom 
it  turned  out,  from  his  handsome  and  portly  appearance 
and  cocked  hat,  had  been  mistaken  for  the  General. 

In  the   early  part  of   October   1838,  the   General's 


444  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WIIITTINGHAM. 

English  valet  named  Prior,  died  of  yellow  fever.  After  a 
few  hours'  illness,  the  acting  Military  Secretary  was  called 
up  at  two  in  the  morning  to  see  him  nearly  expiring  in 
the  convulsions  of  the  black  vomit,  and  he  died  in  the 
course  of  the  day.  The  Secretary  then  took  fever,  though 
not  of  the  same  fatal  kind  ;  but  his  life  was  saved  by 
taking  the  prescription  of  a  coloured  woman — a  kind  of 
herb  tea — which  acted,  when  the  medicines  of  the  regu- 
lar practitioners  had  wholly  failed. 

Sir  Sam  ford  Whittingham  to  his  Niece,  Miss  Davis. 

(Extract.) 

^Baebadoes,  15th  Octohei',  1838. 

'  What  a  week  of  suffering  and  of  sorrow  this  has  been. 

In  the  midst  of  poor  Prior's  fatal  illness, was  seized 

with  fever,  and  for  two  days  he  remained  in  a  very  pre- 
carious state.  He  is,  however,  thanks  be  to  the  God  of 
mercy,  at  present  out  of  danger,  and  I  trust  will  soon  be 
convalescent.  But  it  is  the  opinion  of  all  the  medical 
advisers  that  European  air  is  quite  requisite.  He  will 
therefore  sail  from  hence  for  Falmouth,  on  JSTov.  11th,  at 
latest. 

'  No  sooner  had fallen  ill  than  Captain  King,*  my 

right-hand  man  in  the  Adjutant-General's  department, 
was  also  seized  with  a  most  serious  attack  of  fever. 

'  In  the  midst  of  all  these  grievous  afflictions  I  am 
truly  thankful  to  God  that  my  own  health  is  quite  re- 
stored, and  that  I  feel  equal  to  all  the  duties  which  must 
now  devolve  on  me.' 

'  \%th  October.    is  now  considered  out  of  danger, 

and  King  is  doing  very  well ;  and  the  uncle  is  still  per- 
mitted to  flourish  like  an  old  oak,  and  to  resist  the  trials 
under  which  so  many  have  fallen.     's  infinite  applica- 

*  Now  Colonel  King,  son  of  General  The  Hon.  Sir  Henry  King-,  and 
nephew  to  the  Earl  of  Kingston  and  to  Viscount  Lorton.  An  excellent 
officer ;  one  of  the  many  whose  fortune  has  been  below  their  merits. 


RETURN   OF   CAPTAIN   CONSIDINE.  445 

tion  and  incessant  labours  have  in  great  measure  brought 
on  his  illness — a  clearer  or  a  sounder  judgment  upon 
every  difficult  question  submitted  to  him  (and  in  this 
extended  command  they  are  innumerable)  I  never  saw. 
As  a  real  man  of  business is  invaluable.' 

From  the  Same  to  the  Same, 

(Extract.) 

^Bakbadoes,  Uh  November,  1838. 

'  Yesterday  evening,  at  six  o'clock, embarked  for 

Enoiand.  King  came  back  to  me  at  eight  o'clock,  havino 
seen  him  on  board,  and  reported  all  well.  For  the  first 
time  since  the  commencement  of  my  military  career  I 
find  myself  an  insulated  and  lonely  being  !  But  a  due 
humility  leads  me  to  the  conviction  that  I  have  infinite 
cause  for  gratitude  to  the  Almighty,  and  that  to  repine 
at  any  part  of  a  lot  so  favoured  as  mine  is  a  crime. 

'  I  feel  that  our  communion  in  this  world  can  be  but  of 
short  duration  ;  for  my  life  must  be  dedicated  to  the  per- 
formance of  those  duties  which  it  is  not  permitted  to 
neglect.  But  I  am  comforted  by  the  blessed  hope  that 
we  shall  meet  hereafter.' 

The  return  of  Captain  Considine,  his  able  and  excel- 
lent Military  Secretary,  and  of  his  beloved  aide-de-camp, 

B — ,  from  their  sick  leaves,  soon  afterwards,  cheered 

the  exile ;  and  the  arrival  of  the  famous  52nd  Eegiment 
at  Barbadoes,  to  join  his  command,  afforded  him  much 
pleasure.  At  the  same  time  he  was  cheered  by  a  letter 
dated  '  Simla,  17th  September,'  from  his  friend  Captain 
(now  Lord  William)  Godolphin  Osborne,  giving  him,  as 
secretary  to  his  uncle,  Lord  Auckland,  the  account  of  Sir 
John  Keane's  capture  of  Ghuznee. 

In  1837  Sir  Samford  had  given  a  gold  medal  prize  to 
every  regiment  in  his  command  for  the  best  shot,  on 
condition  that  the  officers  would  provide  silver  ones  for 


446  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

the  best  company  shots.  This  was  long  before  Govern- 
ment had  instituted  any  rewards  for  good  shooting. 

On  the  17th  January,  1839,  he  writes  to  Mr.  Davis  : 
'  All  the  great  people  at  home  express  their  satisfaction 
at  my  mode  and  manner  of  carrying  on  the  business  of 
this  command.  Some  years  back  so  much  praise  from 
such  various  and  high  quarters  would  have  made  me  love 
my  stirrups,  and  have  puffed  me  up  with  vanity.  In 
the  present  day,  thanks  be  to  God,  my  good  fortune 
only  impresses  me  with  a  more  lively  sense  of  my  own 
unworthiness,  and  a  more  humble  feeling  of  gratitude  to 
the  Almighty  for  all  the  blessings  he  has  conferred  on 
me !  The  fever  has  at  length  left  us,  and  the  garrison  is 
now  perfectly  healthy  :  but  the  ravages  of  the  earth- 
quake in  many  of  the  islands,  and  particularly  in  Guada- 
lupe have  been  terrible. 

'  Everything  here  proceeds  smoothly  and  quietly.  My 
black  soldiers  are  behaving  exceedingly  well.  They  mount 
guard  with  the  white  troops,  and  the  oldest  non-commis- 
sioned officer  commands,  be  his  face  white  or  black. 
My  own  guard  alone  is  exclusively  black.*  This  flatters 
them,  and  pleases  me  ;  for  1  have  always  held  that  to 
make  men  trustworthy,  you  must  begin  by  trusting  them.' 

In  a  letter  to  Sir  Edward  Paget,  dated  28th  February, 
1839,  Sir  Samford  thus  alludes  to  the  death  by  fever  at 
Bermuda  of  Admiral  Sir  Charles  Paget.  '  Ere  you  re- 
receive  this  letter  you  will  have  heard  of  the  sad  loss  we 
have  sustained  in  the  death  of  your  excellent  brother.  In 
a  public  as  well  as  a  private  point  of  view,  deeply  and 
justly  is  the  loss  deplored.  For  the  British  navy  pos- 
sessed not  a  brighter  ornament,  nor  could  our  country 
boast  a  more  perfect  model  of  the  real  Enghsh  gentleman.' 

'  Barbadoes^  2nd  July^  1839. — Many  thanks  for  your 

*  To  appreciate  this  confidence,  the  reader  must  remember  the  previous 
mutiny  of  the  black  troops  at  Trinidad,  and  the  executions  which  had 
followed. 


SATISFACTION   OF   HOME   AUTHORITIES.  447 

conversation  with  Lord  Hill.  I  am  not  surprised  at  his 
Lordship  finding  it  difficult  to  supply  my  place  in  this 
command.  The  duties  of  it  are  laborious  and  difficult 
from  its  extent.  But  Lord  Hill  has  been  so  uniformly 
friendly  to  me,  that  there  is  no  personal  sacrifice  I  would 
not  make  to  meet  his  wishes  ;  and  nothing  but  the  duty 
I  owe  to  my  children  could  induce  me  to  oppose  them. 
Li  the  meanwhile  my  trust  is  in  God  ;  fully  satisfied 
that  his  wisdom  and  goodness  and  mercy  will  ordain  all 
for  the  best.' 

From  the  reduction  of  the  troops  in  the  West  Indies, 
and  other  causes,  the  military  command  of  which  Barba- 
does  is  the  head-quarters,  has  of  late  years  much  lessened 
in  importance,  and  is  indeed  the  command  only  of  a 
Major-General.  But  at  the  period  referred  to  it  was 
considered  in  a  very  different  light,  though  always  greatly 
disliked,  and  not  without  good  reason.  There  is  little 
doubt  that  this  second  service  in  the  West  Indies  short- 
ened a  life,  which,  from  original  excellence  of  constitu- 
tion, had  promised  to  be  long.  His  letter  last  quoted  to 
his  brother-in-law  concludes  with  these  words  ;  '  There 
is  one  ambition,  however,  which  still  clings  to  my  heart, 
and  gains  more  and  more  over  me.  I  would  wish  to 
spend  six  months  at  least  in  the  much  loved  circle,  on 
my  transit  from  the  West  to  East.  It  will  probably  be 
our  last  meeting  on  this  side  the  grave ;  and  I  should 
fervently  hope  it  may  be  as  prolonged  as  I  know  it  will 
be  warm  and  affectionate.  God  love  you,  my  dearest, 
best,  and  oldest  friend.  Ever  your  attached  brother, 
Samford  Whittingham.' 

His  relatives  in  England,  most  anxious  about  his  liealth, 
pressed  him  to  resign  his  present  profitless  and  unhealthy 
command.  They  feared,  moreover,  that  whilst  he  re- 
mained there  nothing  better  would  be  offered  him  ;  as 
the  authorities  at  home  were  desirous  of  keeping  him  in 
a  post  where  he  was  so  useful,  and  which  most  officers  of 
his  standing  and  merit  would  refuse  to  accept. 


448  -  MEMOIR   OF   Sill   S.  F.  WHIfTlXGllAM. 

'  Barbadoes,  Srd  August. — I  enclose  duplicate  copy  of 
a  letter  I  have  written  to  Lord  Fitzroy  on  the  subject 
of  my  return  to  England,  in  conformity  with  your 
opinion,  and  that  of  Hart  and .' 

It  must  be  here  observed  that  the  fears  of  his  friends 
in  England  had  arisen  from  the  nature  of  Lord  Hill's  first 
reply  through  Lord  Fitzroy  Somerset  to  Sir  Sam  ford's 
application  for  employment  in  the  East  Indies,  namely  : — 
'  I  am  directed  to  state  that  a  memorandum  will  be  made 
of  your  wishes,  although  his  Lordship  would  regret  ex- 
tremely that  any  circumstance  should  arise  to  withdraw 
you  from  your  present  command,  the  duties  of  which 
you  discharge  to  his  perfect  satisfaction.' 

The  following  letter  which  he  received  about  this  time 
from  his  diplomatic  connexion  in  London,  was  not  calcu- 
lated to  lessen  his  repugnance  to  remaining  longer  in  the 
country  denounced  nearly  twenty  years  previously  as  a 
'pays  sans  souvenirs  et  sans  esperances  ;' — 

Mr.  Bartle  Frere  to  Sir  Sam  ford  Whittimjhani. 

'  Savile  Roav,  1st  Juhjj  1839. 

'  My  dear  Whittingham, — I  have  to  thank  you  for  your 
letter  of  the  19th  April,  and  its  very  interesting  enclosures, 
since  the  receipt  of  Avhich  Vaughan  [Davis]  has  been  kind 
enough  to  send  me  a  copy  of  your  Memoir  of  May  1836, 
which  you  had  requested  him  to  do. 

'  On  reading  this  paper  over  again  at  this  time,  one 
cannot  but  be  struck  with  the  prophetic  spirit  with  which 
it  was  written.  I  only  wish  that  you  were  entrusted  with 
the  execution  of  the  measures  which  you  recommend  for 
averting  the  danger  that  you  so  distinctly  foresaw  and 
predicted.  The  Shah's  providential  failure  in  the  last 
campaign  before  Herat  has  given  us  a  breathing  time, 
upon  which  we  had  no  right  to  calculate.  Had  he  suc- 
ceeded, Eussia  would  probably  not  have  scrupled  to  throw 


MR.  B.  FRERES   LETTER   TO   SIR  SAMFORD.  449 

off  the  mask,  which  under  present  circumstances  she  does 
not  appear  to  be  prepared  to  do ;  and  our  troops  seem 
advancing  without  opposition  to  occupy  the  important 
points  of  the  hne  of  operations.  But  after  all,  it  is  to  me 
an  appalling  consideration,  how,  with  the  very  limited 
means  which  we  have  at  our  disposal,  we  are  to  be  pre- 
pared to  meet  all  the  exigencies  of  such  a  gigantic  scale 
of  proceedings. 

' and  I  have  at  length  paid  our  visit  to  Alava,* 

who  received  him  very  cordially.  I  think  he  is  looking 
much  better  for  his  visit  to  Paris,  of  which,  no  doubt,  he 
will  have  given  you  a  full  history.  I  was  sorry  to  hear 
the  melancholy  account  he  gave  of  Turenne.f  I  had 
looked  to  him  as  a  person  who  would  prove  his  most  use- 
ful acquaintance 

'You  will  have  seen  by  the  "  Gazette,"  that  Eichard 
[Frere]  has  got  his  Lieutenancy  in  the  13th.  His  friends 
heard  of  him  lately  from  an  officer  of  his  regiment  who 
is  returned  to  England,  and  who  spoke  very  favourably 
of  him. 

'  I  see  there  is  a  Mediterranean  mail  come  in,  so  I 
shall  leave  this  open  till  I  take  it  to  Downing  Street,  for 
the  sake  of  learning  whether  it  brings  me  any  letter  from 
Don  Patricio. 

'  Ever,  my  dear  Whittingham, 

'  Yours  most  affectionately, 

'  B.  Frere.' 

The  gallant  and  truly  excellent  young  Eichard  Frere 
was  destined  to  an  early  death,  as  one  of  the  victims  to 
the  hardships  of  the  retreat  from  Cabool.  Don  Patricio, 
that  is  Colonel  Campbell,  was  now  Consul  at  Cairo  :  and 

*  General  Don  Miguel  Alava,  then  Spanish  Ambassador  in  London. 

f  According  to  the  testimony  of  his  son  (the  Marquis  de  Turenne),  the 
health  of  Count  Turenne,  the  old  (and  wine-catering)  friend  of  Sir  Samford, 
had  so  broken  down  by  this  time  as  to  cause  him  to  live  in  strict  re- 
tirement. 

G  G 


450  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

on  the  14th  January,  1839,  he  addressed  a  long  letter  to 
his  old  Chief,  detailing  the  overland  route  to  India,  which 
Sir  Samford — always  anticipating  an  Indian  command — 
at  first  was  inclined  to  proceed  by,  though  eventually  he 
went  by  sea.  The  first  sentence,  therefore,  of  the  gallant 
Consul's  letter  alone  is  given ;  and,  alas,  his  affectionate 
good  wishes  were  not  destined  to  be  realized : — 

'  Another  year  has  commenced  for  us ;  and  it  appears 
almost  a  dream  to  think  that  thirty  years  have  revolved 
since  our  first  campaigns  in  Spain  ;  and  on  the  remem- 
brance of  which  and  of  yourself,  and  of  my  most  happy 
days,  I  always  dwell  with  so  much  pleasure.  May  every 
happiness  attend  you,  and  may  you  see  many  new  years.' 

At  length,  in  September,  1839,  Sir  Samford  Whitting- 
ham  was  unanimously  appointed  by  the  Court  of  Directors 
to  be  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Madras  army ;  but  he 
was  directed  to  remain  in  Barbadoes  till  the  arrival  of 
his  successor.  Now  at  length  he  had  obtained  a  high 
and  lucrative  command  in  the  British  service.  His  own 
salary  was  to  be  £8,600  a  year,  with  an  outfit  of  £2,000. 
The  Staff-pay  of  his  Mihtary  Secretary  was  more  than 
£1,000  a-year,  and  if  exchanged  to  a  regiment  in  India, 
he  might  draw  Indian  regimental  pay  in  addition ;  so  that 
father  and  son  would  together  draw  about  £10,000  a- 
year.  Two  aides-de-camp  were  also  allowed.  Everything 
looked  bright  and  hopeful.  Health  and  strength  only 
were  required  for  the  veteran  to  finish  his  career  in  com- 
fort at  least,  if  not  with  augmented  fame  and  honours. 
The  only  question  was,  had  these  rewards  come  too  late  ? 
Had  that  second  exile  to  the  West  Indies  shattered  a  con- 
stitution that  promised  a  longevity  equal  to  that  which 
has  been  obtained  by  so  many  veteran  soldiers  ? 

He  had  still  to  tarry,  awaiting  his  successor  for  nearly 
three  months  in  that  detestable  climate.  Meantime  all 
his  spare  minutes  were  devoted  to  correspondence  regard- 


COMPLIMENTS   FEOM   GOVERNOR  AND   ASSEMBLY.      451 

ing  his  future  command,  and  to  writing  memorandums 
on  Indian  politics  ;  civil  and  military  subjects,  which  pro- 
bably few  men  living  had  more  deeply  studied.  To  men- 
tion only  one  of  many  subjects  he  was  anxious  to  discuss 
with  Mr.  James  Cosmo  Melvill,  of  the  India  House : 
'Firstly.  The  last  Burmese  War  cost  upwards  of  ten 
millions  sterling,  principally  caused  by  imperfect  arrange- 
ments as  to  means  of  transport,  and  to  the  consequent 
duration  of  the  war. 

'  Secondly,  A  struggle  thus  protracted  with  an  enemy 
so  inferior  to  us  is  always  injurious  to  that  opinion  of  our 
irresistible  superiority  which  forms  the  basis  of  our  power 
in  India. 

'  Thirdly,  Under  existing  circumstances,  it  is  of  vital 
importance  that  a  war  with  Ava  should  be  finished  in  one 
campaign.' 

He  then  enumerates  the  faults  of  the  former  campaign 
in  detail,  such  as  beginning  the  campaign  in  the  rainy 
season ;  not  brigading  the  Native  and  English  troops  in 
proper  proportions  together ;  not  securing  by  armed 
steamers  the  command  of  the  Irawaddy  ;  and  neglect- 
ing to  protect  the  ordnance  and  commissariat  stores. 

Want  of  space  forbids  any  further  extracts  on  this 
subject.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  his  whole  energies  were 
now  turned  towards  effectually  serving  his  country  in  its 
greatest  and  most  important  foreign  possession. 

Extract  from  the  Speech  of  the  Governor-General  of  the 
Windward  Islands^  Sir  Evan  Murray  Macgregor, 
Baronet^  at  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  in  Barbadoes, 
on  Monday^  the  2bth  October,  1839. 

'  In  former  instances  you  have  participated  in  my 
acknowledgments  of  the  obligations  due  by  the  Colony 
for  the  solicitude  which  the  Lieutenant-General  has  ever 
evinced  in  its  prosperity.  I  cordially  embrace  the  last 
public  opportunity  of  recording  my  high  appreciation  of 

G   G   2 


452  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

his  Excellency's  firm,  judicious,  and  most  friendly  co- 
operation pending  an  eventful  crisis  in  these  Islands.  And 
I  feel  assured  that  you  will  cheerfully  unite  with  me  in 
congratulating  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  on  the  mark  of 
Eoyal  favour  graciously  manifested  towards  his  Excel- 
lency, in  the  Lieutenant-General's  approaching  transfer  to 
an  important  command  in  the  Asiatic  dominions  of  the 
Crown.' 

The  House  of  Assembly  presented  the  General  an 
address,  signed  by  their  Speaker,  Mr.  E.  Bowcher  Clarke, 
in  which  they  state  that  they  '  cannot  suffer  your  Excel- 
lency to  leave  the  shores  of  Barbadoes  without  giving 
expression  to  the  deep  sense  they  entertain  of  your  ser- 
vices to  this  Colony,  during  a  period  unparalleled  in  its 
history  for  difficulty  and  importance,  and  their  gratitude 
for  the  lively  interest  which  your  Excellency  has,  on  all 
occasions,  evinced  in  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the 
Island.  And  while  they  cannot  but  regret  your  Excel- 
lency's approaching  departure,  they  beg  leave  to  tender 
their  cordial  congratulations  on  the  fresh  proofs  you  have 
received  of  the  favour  and  approbation  of  your  Sovereign, 
and  their  best  wishes  for  your  health  and  happiness.' 

Sir  Samford  made  a  suitable  and  grateful  reply,  which 
it  is  unnecessary  to  produce. 

To  his  Brother-in-law. 

'Barbadoes,  IQth  December,  1839. 

'  I  love  to  hope  that  General  Maister  must  speedily 
arrive.  I  shall  not  want  forty-eight  hours  after  making 
over  the  command  to  him.  How  I  do  long  to  come  again 
amongst  you !  Could  I  have  returned  in  the  steamer 
which  will  bplig  out  the  General,  what  a  blessing !  But 
I  fear  that  cannot  be,  as  the  "  Firefiy  "  is  destined  to  this 
station.' 

He  did  not,  however,  sail   from  Barbadoes  till  after 


DEPARTURE  FOR  ENGLAND.  453 

Christmas  had  passed,  and  the  new  year  had  fairly  began, 
and  it  was  not  till  the  7th  February,  1840,  that  he  re- 
landed  in  Old  England  for  the  last  time  of  his  life. 
During  the  last  year  of  his  stay  in  Barbadoes,  to  his  own 
satisfaction  and  especially  to  that  of  his  returned  Mihtary 
Secretary,  Captain  Considine,  the  gallant  52nd,  one  of  the 
crack  regiments  of  the  army,  served  under  his  immediate 
command  at  St.  Anne's  Barracks,  and  there  fully  main- 
tained, (in  spite  of  much  suffering  from  yellow  fever),"^ 
its  excellent  and  long-established  reputation. 

He  left  the  Island  with  Captain  Considine  and  Lieu- 
tenant Bates,  amidst  universal  regret  and  respect,  having 
greatly  ameliorated  the  discipline  and  the  comforts  both 
of  the  white  and  black  troops,  and  having  obtained  the 
warm  thanks  and  sympathies  of  the  local  authorities,  and 
the  ungrudging  approval  of  the  home  authorities  at  the 
Horse-Guards,  Colonial  Office,  and  War  Office,  as  ex- 
pressed by  Lord  Hill,  Lord  Glenelg,  and  Lord  Howick, 
now  Earl  Grey. 

*  Losing  several  officers  and  many  men, 


454  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 


CHAPTEE  XXin. 

1840—1841. 

EETIJENS  TO  ENGLAND  FOR  THE  LAST  TIME — LAST  RECORDED  MEETING 
OF  TWO  OLD  FRIENDS — MOORE  AND  DICKENS — DUKE  OF  WELLINGTON'S 
KIND  NOTE — LETTER  TO  SIR  JOHN  HOBHOUSE  ON  CORPORAL  PUNISH- 
MENT —  WRITES  HIS  '  RECOLLECTIONS  '  AT  SEA — ARRIVES  AT  MADRAS 
DURING  LORD  ELPHINSTONE's  ABSENCE — LORD  ELPHINSTONE'S  NATURAL 
BUT  NEEDLESS  FEARS — REINFORCEMENT  TO  CHINA — LETTER  FROM  LORD 
BURGHERSH  —  LETTER  TO  THE  HON.  W.  G.  OSBORNE  —  SIR  CHARLES 
FELIX  smith's  eulogistic  LETTER  —  A  TRUE  PROPHET  ON  INDIAN 
AFFAIRS  —  SIR  SAMFORD  RECOMMENDS  RAPIDITY  OF  MILITARY  MOVE- 
MENTS— A  BE-JEWELLED  RAJAH — AN  UNWORTHY  ENGLISHMAN — EVIL 
EFFECTS  OF  THE  WEST  INDIES— SIR  HARRY  SMITH'S  SPONTANEOUS  LET- 
TER TO  SIR  SAMFORD — EVIL  RESULTS  OF  PATERNAL  OBSTINACY — LETTER 
FROM  THE  BISHOP  OF  MADRAS — SIR  SAMFORD's  LOYALTY  TO  THE 
GOVERNMENT — CORRESPONDENCE  ABOUT  THE  '  WELLINGTON  DISPATCHES  ' 
— SIR  SAMFORD's  letter  TO  COLONEL  GURWOOD — SIR  SAMFORD'S  LAST 
LETTERS — HIS  SUDDEN  DEATH — LORD  FITZROY  SOMERSET'S  LETTER  TO 
THE   EDITOR — THE  FUNERAL, 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham  relanded  in  England  on  the 
7th  February,  1840,  and  immediately  reported  his  ar- 
rival from  Devonport  to  the  authorities  at  the  Horse- 
Guards.  On  the  following  day  he,  from  the  same 
place,  forwarded  a  copy  of  his  '  Memoir  on  the  means 
of  attack  by  Eussia  on  British  India,'  to  Sir  John  Cam 
Hobhouse  then  President  of  the  Board  of  Control; 
acquainting  him  that  it  had  formerly  merited  the  ap- 
proval of  Lord  Wilham  Bentinck,  and  had  been  subse- 
quently presented  to  Lord  Palmerston  and  to  Mr.  Melvill 
in  1836.* 

*  Vide  Apjiendix  F  for  a  list  of  sucli  of  the  manuscript  memoirs  and 
otlier  papers  and  essays  on  various  subjects  as  have  reached  the  Editor's 
hands. 


MEETING    OF  TWO   OLD    FRIENDS.  455 

At  the  close  of  this  letter  he  states :  '  I  arrived  here 
from  Barbadoes  in  H.M.'s  Frigate  "  Liconstant''  yester- 
day, and  the  probably  short  time  of  my  stay  in  England 
will,  I  trust,  plead  my  excuse  for  this  early  intrusion  on 
your  time  and  attention.  On  my  arrival  in  London,  I 
shall  be  most  happy  to  afford  any  further  information 
you  may  judge  fit.  My  address  will  be  "  Fen  ton  House, 
Hampstead  Heath." ' 

He  had  not  landed  long,  when  there  commenced  that 
rush  of  applications  for  appointments  to  which  all  high 
Indian  officials  were  especially  subject,  before  the  necessity 
of  passing  any  examination  for  Staff  employments  had  put 
limits  to  the  general  desire  to  obtain  them. 

How  Sir  Samford  enjoyed  his  few  months  in  England 
in  the  society  of  his  beloved  relatives  and  friends  may 
be  readily  imagined.  It  was  at  the  end  of  February  or 
the  beginning  of  March  that  the  Editor  accompanied  him 
to  a  dinner  at  the  house  of  his  best  friend — the  excellent 
Sir  Edward  Paget,  at  this  time  Governor  of  Chelsea  Hos- 
pital. Their  manners  to  each  other  were  those  of  affec- 
tionate brothers.  Most  of  the  evening  the  two  friends 
occupied  Sir  Edward's  social  double  arm-chair  shaped 
like  the  letter  S,  where  vis-a-vis  they  could  carry  on  their 
conversation  privately,  undisturbed  by  the  rest  of  the 
company. 

There  were  romantic  circumstances  attending  that  din- 
ner calculated  to  stamp  it  on  the  unwritten  tablets  of  the 
memory,  from  which  it  is  taken.  The  lordly  heir  of  a 
great  and  illustrious  inheritance,  separated  from  his  wife, 
owing  to  his  own  vagaries,  was  invited  to  Chelsea  there  to 
meet  his  fair  young  daughter,  whom  he  could  only  see  on 
such  occasions.  She  was  a  charming  person,  and  married 
a  few  years  later,  for  love,  a  younger  son  and  her  own 
excellent  and  handsome  first  cousin.  A  few  days  after 
this  dinner,  the  Editor  heard  one  gentleman  mention  to 
another  the  death  of  a  certain  Duke,  by  which  the  mem- 


456  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.    F.    WIIITTINGIIAM. 

ber  of  the  House  of  Commons  at  the  dinner  party  was 
transferred  to  the  House  of  Lords.  This  fact,  aided  by 
the  '  Peerage,'  has  enabled  the  writer  to  fix  within  a  few 
days,  the  last  time  at  which  he  saw  together  the  two  old 
friends  firmly  bound  together  by  the  ties  of  mutual 
esteem  and  affection. 

Of  another  interesting  dinner,  the  date  has  been  taken 
from  the  Eegister  of  the  lady  who  was  its  fair  and  ac- 
complished hostess.  On  Tuesday,  the  25th  of  March, 
1840,  in  Hanover  Terrace,  Eegent's  Park,  Sir  Samford 
Whittingham,  with  his  newly  appointed  Military  Secre- 
tary, and  his  first  aide-de-camp  (brother  of  the  hostess), 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  at  the  hospitable  table  of 
Mr.  Thomas  Longman,  whose  parents  were  also  present 
on  the  occasion,  both  Moore  and  Dickens.  The  former 
made  himself  very  agreeable.  He  had  a  son  in  India, 
unfortunately  in  the  Bombay  instead  of  the  Madras  Pre- 
sidency ;  but  he  hoped  that  Sir  Samford  might  in  some 
way  or  other  be  of  service  to  him.  Dickens,  at  that 
time  a  handsome  picturesque-looking  young  man  with 
flowing  hair,  was  very  silent  on  that  occasion  as  compared 
with  the  poet,  but  no  doubt,  he  thought  a  great  deal. 
The  most  lively  talker  at  that  dinner  was  Mr.  Hayward. 
In  those  days  it  was  a  great  pleasure  to  hear  Moore  sing 
his  own  songs,  as  he  probably  did  on  that  occasion  also. 

Sir  Samford  found  time  one  day  to  go  to  Greenwich 
to  dine  with  his  old  friend,  Admiral  the  Hon.  Elphin- 
stone  Fleeming,  whose  son  long  afterwards  for  a  brief 
period,  enjoyed  the  ancient  family  title. 

The  Duke  of  Wellington  held  no  office  of  any  kind 
at  this  time,  and  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  had  conse- 
quently no  claim  to  see  him.  The  Duke  was  considered, 
even  when  Commander-in-Chief,  very  inaccessible  to  old 
Peninsular  officers  unconnected  with  the  aristocracy,  and, 
indeed,  inaccessible  generally.*     Sir  Samford  Whitting- 

*  Some  years  later  a  noble  and  distinguished  General,  who  insisted  on 
seeing  his  Grace  at  the  Horse-Guards  one  day,  in  spite  of  advice  from  the 


DUKE  OF  Wellington's  kind  note.  457 

ham,  owing  to  almost  perpetual  exile,  had  become  nearly 
a  stranger  to  his  Grace  personally,  but  as  in  his  last  brief 
stay  in  England,  so  now  he  sought  the  honour  of  a  per- 
sonal interview  with  him  whom  he  ever  deemed  the  most 
illustrious  of  Englishmen  : — 

Sir  Samford  Whiitingham  to  the  Duke  of  Wellington. 

^  United  Service  Club,  lih  March,  1840. 

'  My  Lord  Duke, — My  departure  for  Madras  to  assume 
the  command  of  the  troops  of  that  presidency,  being 
fixed  for  the  15th  of  April,  I  beg  leave  to  submit  how 
highly  I  should  appreciate  the  honour  of  being  permitted 
to  wait  upon  your  Grace  previous  to  my  again  quitting 
England.  I  leave  town  for  Chatham  on  Monday  next, 
but  shall  return  on  Thursday  the  12th  instant. 
'  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  &c., 

'  Samford  Whittingham, 

'  Lieutenant-General.' 

*His  Grace  The  Duke  of  Wellington,  K.G., 

(fee,  &c.' 

The  Duke  of  Wellington  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

[Apsley  House]  '  London,  8th  March,  1840. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — I  shall  be  at  all  times  very  happy  to 
receive  you.  Friday  is  a  Parliamentary  day,  on  which  I 
am  generally  engaged  all  day.  But  if  you  will  come  here 
on  Saturday  the  14th,  at  twelve  at  noon,  I  shall  be  very 
happy  to  receive  you. 

'  Ever  yours  most  faithfully, 

'Wellington.'* 

^Lieut.-Gen.  Sir  S.  WhittingLam,  K.C.B.' 

Secretary  to  abstain,  had  the  surprise  of  hearing  through  a  door  not  closed, 

these  energetic  words  :  *  What  does  the  d old  fool  want  ?  ' 

*  No  record  remains  of  what  passed  at  either  of  the  interviews  with 
the  Duke  of  Wellington  in  1835  or  1840.  Their  occurrence  became 
known  to  the  Editor  only  by  finding  his  Grace's  notes,  when  Sir  Samford's 
papers  reached  his  hands  last  year. 


458  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

The  visit  to  Chatham  was  to  Colonel,  afterwards 
General  Sir  Charles  Pasley,  of  the  Eoyal  Engineers,  to 
which  he  was  accompanied  by  his  son.  The  visit  lasted 
two  or  three  days,  and  was  passed  in  investigations  and 
experiments  of  a  scientific  military  nature,  as  well  as  in 
friendly  intercourse. 

The  Commander-in-Chief,  Lord  Hill,  gave  Sir  Samford 
a  dinner,  at  which,  amongst  other  guests,  he  met  the  Earl 
of  Cardigan,  and  all  the  heads  of  the  Staff  of  the  army. 
At  the  usual  dinner  given  by  the  Chairman  and  Court 
of  Directors  in  Leadenhall  Street,  Sir  John  Cam  Hob- 
house,  in  his  wonted  grand  style,  proposed,  as  President 
of  the  Board  of  Control,  the  health  of  Sir  Samford  Whit- 
tingham,  to  which  he  responded  in  his  usual  easy  and 
unembarrassed  manner.  His  Staff  were  invited  with 
him ;  but  he  alone,  of  all  the  guests  present,  had  to 
appear  in  uniform.  Lord  Seymour,  now  Duke  of  So- 
merset, was  present,  and,  the  Editor  thinks,  spoke  also  on 
this  occasion. 

On  the  24th  February,  1840,  Sir  Samford  had  written 
a  long  letter  to  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Control  (he 
wrote  to  him  many  letters,  for  which  there  is  not  space 
even  to  allude),  after  '  having  perused  with  great  atten- 
tion the  whole  of  the  Indian  correspondence  relative  to 
the  expediency  or  otherwise  of  annulling  the  General 
Order  of  Lord  William  Bentinck,  abolishing  corporal 
punishment  in  the  native  army  of  India.' 

He  declares  to  Sir  John  that  he  had  always  advocated 
its  abolition,  as  far  as  was  consistent  with  discipline,  and 
had  greatly  diminished  its  infliction  in  his  late  command, 
with  very  beneficial  results  to  the  service.  But  he 
thought  it  necessary  in  the  field  ;  and  at  the  same  time 
he  considered  it  ill-advised  that  the  Articles  of  War, 
or  the  Act  of  Parliament,  should  recognize  such  dis- 
tinction. He  also  thought  it  invidious  and  dangerous 
that  in  the  same  command  the  black  troops  should  be 


EMBARKS   FOR   MADRAS  459 

exempt  from,  and  the  white  troops  be  subjected  to,  cor- 
poral punishment. 

Practically,  he  was  disposed  in  time  of  peace  to  do  away 
with  all  corporal  punishment,  except  in  cases  of  gross  in- 
subordination, accompanied  by  violence  to  a  superior, 
such  as  are  in  Continental  armies  visited  with  death. 
'Still,'  he  adds,  'it  will  be  obvious  that  it  would  be 
highly  disadvantageous  and  injurious  to  appear  to  aflSx 
by  Act  of  Parhament,  or  by  general  regidations,  a 
special  penalty  on  going  into  active  service  :  a  result 
likely  to  make  taking  the  field  most  unpopular  with 
the  soldier,  and  to  impress  his  mind  with  the  feeling 
that  active  service  was  the  road  to  disgrace  instead  of 
honour/ 

On  the  16th  April,  1840,  Sir  Samford  Whittingham 
and  his  Staff  embarked  for  Madras.  Knowing  the  dif- 
ficulty of  finding  in  India  a  horse  strong  enough  to  carry 
a  man  of  his  weight  and  stature,  he  had  requested 
General  Broth erton  to  purchase  for  him  a  first-rate 
English  charger,  which  was  effected  at  a  considerable 
price,  viz.  147/.  Most  unfortunately  this  very  superior 
acquisition  perished  on  board  ship  on  the  5th  May,  from 
inflammation  in  the  bowels.  His  first  aide-de-camp 
wrote  home  :  '  He  is  certainly  a  great  loss  to  Sir  Samford, 
as  he  fears  he  will  not  be  able  to  replace  him  at  Madras.' 
It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  this  mishap  was  in  all  pro- 
bability the  main  cause  of  his  premature  decease  some 
seven  months  later,  in  the  midst  of  promises  of  pros- 
perity and  success,  such  as  had  never  before  shone  so 
brightly  on  the  whole  of  his  career !  The  ways  of  Pro- 
vidence are  awfully  inscrutable ;  but  those  convinced 
that  there  is  a  Providence  must  feel  that  all  wiU  come 
ricfht  at  last  under  its  wise  and  beneficent  rule. 


460  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

To  Sir  John  Cam  Hohhouse. 

^  At  Sea,  22nd  May,  1840. 
<Lat.  5°  10'  North,  Long.  20°  17'  West. 

'  Dear  Sir, — As  you  have  kindly  permitted  me  to  sub- 
mit to  your  consideration  two  Memoirs  on  the  attack  and 
defence  of  British  India,  I  now  beg  to  call  your  attention 
to  the  enclosed  memorandum  on  the  same  subject.  It 
is  probably  the  last  time  I  shall  trouble  you  with  my 
comments  on  this  truly  interesting  topic;  as  my  time 
and  attention  on  arriving  at  Madras  will,  I  imagine,  be 
directed  to  another  quarter. 

'  I  have,  &c. 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

To  Sir  Willoughby  Gordon^  Quartermaster-General. 

^  At  Sea,  l(Sth  June,  1840. 
<  Lat.  35°  4'  South,  Long.  7°  20'  West. 

'  My  dear  General, — As  the  busy  scene  which  India 
at  present  offers  will  probably  absorb  my  whole  time 
and  attention  on  my  arrival  at  Madras,  I  avail  myself 
of  the  leisure  of  a  sea  voyage  to  offer  to  you  the  ex- 
pression of  my  sincere  gratitude  for  all  your  unwearied 
kindness  to  me  since  the  commencement  of  my  military 
career,  and  at  the  same  time  to  request  your  acceptance 
of  two  Memoirs,  and  a  Memorandum  written  by  me,  on 
the  subject  of  India  as  connected  with  England  and 
Eussia. 

'  Ever,  my  dear  General,  gratefully  and  truly  yours, 

'  Samford  Wiiittingham.' 

The  old  Quartermaster-General  had  long  ceased  to  be 
that  channel  and  dispenser  of  favours  which,  as  Military 
Secretary  to  the  Duke  of  York,  he  had  been  in  the  earlier 
part  of  the  Peninsular  War :  the  more  graceful  was  the 
warm  and  disinterested  tribute  of  gratitude. 

It  was  in  the  course  of  this  voyage  that  the  General 


ARRIVES  AT  MADRAS  DURING  ABSENCE  OF  ELPHINSTONF.    461 

wrote  out  tlie  small  manuscript  that  exists  of  his  Penin- 
sular '  Eecollections.' 

On  the  1st  August  the  Commander-in-Chief  and  his 
Staff  landed  at  Madras,  propelled  over  the  breakers  in 
the  way  so  novel  and  exciting  to  strangers,  and  was 
received  with  the  usual  salutes  and  honours.  Two 
kind  letters  awaited  him  from  the  absent  Governor, 
then  on  the  Nilgherry  Hills.  The  first  was  dated  12th 
July,  inviting  him  either  to  join  his  Lordship  at  once  on 
the  hills,  or  to  take  possession  of  Government  House  at 
Madras,  till  he  had  time  to  hire  his  own  house,  for  which 
there  was  a  fixed  annual  allowance. 

It  also  stated  that  the  temporary  Chief,  Major-General 
Gough,*  was  at  Bangalore  with  the  General  Staff  of  the 
Army.  The  two  civil  members  of  the  Council,  Messrs. 
Lushington  and  Sullivan,  were  with  the  Governor  on  the 
hills,  a  visit  to  which  during  summer  is  so  beneficial  to 
mental  and  bodily  health  and  activity  that  it  is  difficult 
to  understand  the  violent  objections  constantly  made  to 
it  by  the  great  officials  sitting  at  home  at  ease  in  England. 
Lord  Elphinstone  in  the  same  letter  mentioned,  amongst 
other  matter  of  business,  a  plan  for  converting  beautiful 
and  salubrious  Outacamund  into  a  military  station.  Also 
he  had  left  at  Madras  an  excellent  aide-de-camp.  Lieute- 
nant Thornhill,  to  attend  and  assist  Sir  Samford,  as  one 
experienced  in  the  ways  of  the  country.  The  letter  con- 
cludes as  follows :  '  I  do  not  think  of  descending  into 
the  plains  before  the  middle  of  October  at  soonest.  I 
need  hardly  say  that  carriages,  horses,  and  everything  I 
have  at  Madras,  are  entirely  at  your  disposal.  Servants 
and  everything  are  ready  at  Government  House,  and  I 
have  only  to  entreat  you  to  make  use  of  them  and  to 
excuse  my  absence.' 

Lord  Elphinstone's  second  letter,  dated  Outacamund, 
20th  July,   1840,  exhibited  a  fear,  implied  rather  than 

*  Now  Lord  Gough. 


462  MEMOIR  OF   Sm   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

expressed,  that  the  new  Commander-in-Chief  might  be 
ojEFended  at  the  absence  of  his  Lordship  and  Council  on 
his  arrival.     In  spite  of  his  health,  he  would  have  come 
down,   '  if  I  had  not  some  hopes  of  seeing  you  here  ; 
or,  indeed,   if  I  thought  that  my  presence  at  Madras 
could  be  of  any  use  to  you,  either  private   or  public. 
Your  commissions  provide  for  your  assumption  of  office 
in  both  capacities — as  Commander-in-Chief  and  Member 
of  Council — on  your  landing  ;    and  Colonel   Steel,   the 
Secretary  of  Government  at  Madras,  will   immediately 
wait  upon  you  with  all  the  necessary  papers,  and  will 
explain  to  you  the  manner  in  which  business  has  been 
done  since  I  left  Madras,  and  the  mode  in  which    it  is 
proposed  to  carry  it  on,  should  you  prefer  to  remain 
there  during  the  remainder  of  the  hot  season.     I  know 
it  is  hardly  necessary  to  enter  with  you  into  these  details  ; 
for  I  am  not  apprehensive  of  any  misunderstanding  be- 
tween us  upon  these  or  any   other  points.      But  I  am 
anxious  to  explain  everything  to  you  beforehand,  as  I 
fear  that  there  may  be  some  who  are  interested  in  giving 
a  contrary   interpretation  to  my   conduct,   and  who,   I 
perceive,   have    already    began   in    the   newspapers    to 
speculate  upon  the  effect  which  my  "  want  of  courtesy," 
as  they  term  it,  may  produce  upon  your  mind.      Such 
obvious   trash   I   am   really  almost  ashamed  to   notice. 
For  not  only  on  personal  grounds,  but  from  a  conviction 
that   our  mutual   comfort   and   happiness — and,   I   will 
add,  success  in  our  public  duties — mainly  depends  upon 
the  existence  of  harmony,  and  of  a  perfect  understanding 
with  each  other;  you  may  rest  assured  that  I  am  most 
anxious  to  welcome  you,   not  only  with  courtesy,  but 
with  the  most  perfect  cordiality,  and  with  the  strongest 
desire  to   renew  and  cultivate  your   friendship,   and  to 

secure  your  confidence  and  support If  I  have 

dwelt  too  much  on  this  subject,  you  must  attribute  it 
to  my  anxiety,  both  on  your  account  and  my  own,  to 


LORD  ELPIITNSTONE'S  NATURAL   BUT  NEEDLESS    FEARS.    463 

dejouer  a  game  which  has  too  often  been  played  here, 
and  at  the  other  presidencies.' 

The  reader,  who  knows  the  character  of  Sir  Samford 
Whittingham  better  than  Lord  Elphinstone  then  did,  will 
easily  believe  how  groundless  were  his  Lordship's  appre- 
hensions. Yet  these  were  rationally  grounded  on  pre- 
cedents, in  cases  where  conscientious  performance  of 
duty,  and  loyal  and  generous  support  of  authority,  were 
not  first  principles  of  action.  In  a  letter  dated,  '  Govern- 
ment House,  2nd  August,  1840,'  Sir  Samford  set  his 
Lordship  perfectly  at  ease,  in  acknowledging  his  letters 
of  the  12th  and  20th  July.  The  fashionable  young 
Captain  of  the  Blues,  whose  first  appointment  was  a 
job,  had  now  ruled  some  years  in  Madras,  and  was 
daily  becoming  fitter  for  his  office.  He  was  a  man  of 
much  tact  and  common  sense,  and  made  a  fair  average 
Governor  ;  and  later  in  life,  when  he  again  returned 
to  India  as  Governor  of  Bombay,  he  contributed  with 
zeal  and  energy  to  the  suppression  of  the  mutiny  of  1857 
by  speedily  despatching  reinforcements  from  that  presi- 
dency to  the  scene  of  action. 

For  want  of  space,  Sir  Samford's  reply  to  Lord  Elphin- 
stone is  omitted,  except  a  few  sentences,  fair  samples  of 
the  whole  letter. 

'I  should  have  been  much  grieved  had  you  come 
down  from  the  hills  to  meet  me.'  (He  then  states  his 
intention  of  shortly  joining  his  Lordship  on  the  hills, 
and  expresses  the  greatest  satisfaction  at  the  prospect 
of  the  meeting,  and  adds  :) — '  A  very  few  days  before 
leaving  England  I  had  the  very  great  pleasure  of  dining 
with  the  Admiral  [Elphinstone  Fleeming]  at  Greenwich, 
in  company  with  your  uncle  Mountstuart  Elphinstone, 
and  all  the  ladies  of  the  family.  I  shall  follow  your 
directions  as  to  the  journey  to  the  Nilgherries.  I  will  not 
enter  into  further  details  till  we  meet ;  but  I  am  quite 


464  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGIIAM. 

certain  that  our  co-operation  in  every  respect  will  leave 
neither  of  us  anything  to  desire.' 

He  adds  great  praises  of  Lieutenant  Thornhill,  the 
Governor's  aide-de-camp,  who  truly  was  a  model  of  a 
personal  Staff  Officer,  beloved  and  respected  by  every 
one. 

As  Commanders-in-Chief  visited  only  a  few  persons 
of  position,  and  these  were  mostly  on  the  hills  in 
August,  Sir  Samford  had  not  much  to  do  in  this  w^ay  ; 
but  the  Military  Secretary  and  the  two  aides-de-camp 
were  duly  taken  on  a  visiting  tour  of  Madras  society. 
The  hot  dry  wind  then  blew,  and  though  the  insides  of 
the  houses  were  cooled  with  tatties^  the  air  outside  re- 
sembled that  of  an  oven. 

On  the  9th  August  Sir  Samford  wrote  home  a  long 
joint  letter  to  his  brother-in-law  and  two  nephews,  stating 
that  after  a  very  prosperous  voyage  he  had  landed  on 
the  1st  August.  The  letter,  chiefly  full  of  private  affec- 
tion and  chit-chat,  describes  the  departure  of  the  expedi- 
tion for  China  from  Calcutta,  that  had  previously  taken 
place.  He  adds :  '  I  shall  send  them  a  reinforcement 
of  a  Madras  battalion  in  a  few  days  ;  but  I  must  change 
the  commanding  officer;  the  present  is  too  old  and 
infirm.' 

The  effects  of  those  three  years  passed  in  his  second 
service  in  the  West  Indies  had  began  to  tell  on  Sir 
Samford's  constitution  before  leaving  England,  and  he 
was  unwell  for  some  days  soon  after  arriving  in  Madras. 
The  loss  of  the  English  horse  also  was  irreparable.  He 
bought  others,  but  it  was  impossible  to  find  one  that 
could  carry  safely,  except  at  a  walk,  a  man  of  his 
weight  and  size ;  and  as  it  was  not  a  good  climate  for 
walking,  he  was  thus  debarred  from  that  exercise  which 
had  become  necessary  to  his  existence. 

Early  in  August  he  received  a  letter  from  a  distin- 


LETTER  FROM  LORD  BURGH ERSH.         465 


guished  statesman  and  amiable  man,  Lord  J 
as  follows : — 


^  Downing  Street,  26th  March,  1840. 

'My  dear  Sir  Samford, — I  have  been  asked  to  re- 
commend  to   your  notice   Major  H ,   who  will  be 

under  your  authority  at  Madras.  I  understand  that  he 
has   served   in   India   many   years.      His   father-in-law, 

Mr.  L ,  the  artist,  has  asked  me  to  introduce  him 

to  your  favourable  notice.  I  should  therefore  be  very- 
glad  if  you  should  be  able  to  do  anything  to  serve 
him.' 

'  Yours,  &c., 

'  J. .' 

To  this  letter,  Sir  Samford  made  on  the  12  th  August 
a  brief  reply  assuring  his  Lordship  that  he  would  do 
everything  in  his  power  to  meet  his  Lordship's  wishes. 

About  the  same  time  he  must  have  received  the  fol- 
lowing application : — 

Lord  Burghersh*  to  Sir  Samford  Whittingham. 

'London,  24th  April,  1840. 
'  My  dear  Whittingham, — I  am  very  sorry  I  missed 
you  while  you  were  in  England :  but  I  wish  you  joy  of 
your  appointment  to  Madras  ;  and  indeed  of  the  high 
and  distinguished  services  you  have  so  constantly  ren- 
dered since  our  first  meeting  at  the  battle  of  Talavera. 
I  enclose  you  a  letter  from   the  widow  of  my   former 

tutor She  requests  me  to  recommend  to  you 

her  son-in-law,  ,  a  Lieutenant  in  the  Madras  Native 

Infantry ;  and  if  you  can  do  anything  for  him  I  should  be 
very  much  obhged  to  you.     I  give  you  no  news  from 

*  The  late  Earl  of  Westmoreland,  soldier,  diplomatist,  and  eminent 
musician. 

W  H 


466  MEMOIR  OF  SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

hence — there  is  none  of  any  importance.     Prince  Albert, 
as  you  see,  has  got  the  11th  Dragoons. 

'  With  every  wish,  &c., 

'  BURGHERSH.' 

To  which  on  the  15th  August  Sir  Samford  replied 
that  he  would  do  his  best  to  meet  the  wishes  of  Lord 
Burgh ersh,  and  adds ;  '  When  I  met  you  at  dear  Lord 
William  Bentinck's,  previous  to  my  departure  for  the 
West  Indies,  I  was  much  gratified  to  see  how  little 
impression  time  had  made  upon  you.  For  truly  you 
appeared  to  me  as  well  and  as  young  as  when  we  sat 
together  on  the  hill  of  Talavera.  May  you  long  continue 
thus  to  prosper,  and  as  one  of  the  High  Councillors  of 
the  Crown,  lend  your  powerful  support  to  the  stability 
of  the  British  monarchy.' 

The  following  was  addressed  to  the  nephew  and  Mili- 
tary Secretary  of  the  Governor-General : — 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham  to  the  Eon.  William 
Godolphin  Osborne. 

'  Madras,  20^A  August,  1840. 

'  My  dear  Osborne, — I  have  delayed  writing  to  you 
for  some  days,  in  the  hope  of  the  arrival  of  an  overland 
mail.  But  as  that  hope  has  not  been  realized,  and  as  I 
leave  this  place  for  the  Hills  on  the  22nd  instant,  I 
write  these  lines  to  request  you  will  present  my  respect- 
ful compliments  to  Lord  Auckland  and  to  the  ladies  of 
his  family. 

'  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Lady  Godolphin  a  short 
time  before  my  departure,  and  also  your  uncle.  Lord 
Sidney,  at  Hampstead  ;  and  I  have  to  thank  her  Lady- 
ship for  a  copy  of  your  very  excellent  description  of 
"Eunjeet  Singh,  his  Court  and  Camp." 

'Nothing   can  exceed   the   enthusiastic  admiration  in 


SIR   CHARLES   F.  SMITH'S   EULOGISTIC   LETTER.         467 

England   of  Lord  Auckland's   celebrated   campaign   in 
.AfFghanistan.'* 

'  Yours  very  sincerely, 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

Amongst  the  General  Officers,  whose  congratulations 
and  applications,  he  received  and  replied  to,  were  Sir 
Frederick  Adam,  and  Sir  George  Walker ;  both  greatly 
distinguished  in  the  Peninsular  War  ;  and  the  latter  him- 
self Commander-in-Chief  at  Madras,  at  an  earlier  period. 

Sir  Charles  Felix  Smith,  R.E.,  to  Sir  Samford 
Whittingham.f 

(Extract.) 

'  Gibraltar,  Uth  April,  1840. 

'  My  dear  General, — When  I  heard  of  your  appoint- 
ment to  India,  I  became  desirous  of  offering  con- 
gatulations  on  a  destiny  which  I  knew  would  be  so 
entirely  in  accordance  with  your  wishes.  But  I  hesi- 
tated from  not  being  certain  whether  your  command 
in  the  West  was  to  terminate  at  your  own  pleasure,  or 
on  the  arrival  in  Barbadoes  of  your  successor ;  who,  for 
the  sake  of  the  poor  old  West  Indians,  I  hope  may  be 
guided  by  the  sound  and  able  example  you  have  left 
him.  Unprofitable  as  was  your  command  in  a  pecuniary 
point  of  view,  it  must  have  been  rich  in  the  opinions  it 
gained  for  you — if  indeed  your  former  distinguished 
career  could  derive  lustre  from  actions  short  of  absolute 
triumphs  in  the  field. 

'  Hitherto  you  have  been  a  true  prophet :  but,  query, 
will  not  the  road  opened  by  Sir  John  Keane  tend  to 
increase  alarm,  and  render  more  important  than  ever 
the  views  you  had  taken   with   regard   to   the   Indian 

*  No  one  then  anticipated  the  evils  which  misfortune  and  mismanage- 
ment subsequently  occasioned, 

t  This  letter  probably  reached  Sir  Samford  in  August,  and  has  this  pecu- 
liarity, that  the  congratulations  were  not  accompanied  with  any  requests  I 

H    H    2 


468  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

empire  ?  It  is  well  for  them  that  one  so  enlightened 
as  yourself  should  have  been  at  hand  to  aid  them  in 
the  crisis  which  is  rapidly  approaching.  Don  Fernando 
will  doubtless  accompany  you.  My  memorias  to  him : 
and  you  will,  my  dear  General,  accept  the  renewed,  the 
reiterated  expressions  of  respect,  from  your  faithful  friend 
and  humble  servant, 

'  C.  F.  Smith; 

Sir  Charles,  then  commanding  Eoyal  Engineers,  had 
been  the  second  in  command  in  Barbadoes,  under  Sir 
Samford,  and  had  also  known  him  well  in  the  Peninsula. 
Sir  Charles's  conspicuous  valour  made  him  the  hero  of 
many  a  Peninsular  anecdote,  familiar  to  veterans.  He 
had  a  very  strong  head,  as  well  as  a  very  stout  heart, 
and  his  warm  voluntary  testimony  to  the  merits  of  his 
late  commander,  is  not  unworthy  of  record  in  this  mih- 
tary  Memoir. 

Mr.  W.  0.  Osborne,  on  his  way  with  dispatches  to  the 
Governor-General  from  China,  addressed  a  letter  to  Sir 
Samford,  dated  '  Macao  Eoads,  1st  August,  1840,'  giving 
an  account  of  his  career  in  China,  since  leaving  Lord 
Auckland's  Staff  to  join  the  26th  Cameronians.  The 
letter  is  written  with  characteristic  ability,  and  its  criti- 
cisms on  the  first  incompetent  commander  sent  to  China 
were  but  too  well  founded. 

The  following  letter  was  addressed  to  Mr.  (afterwards 
Sir)  James  Cosmo  Melvill,  Secretary  to  the  Court  of 
Directors  of  the  East  India  Company. 

From  want  of  space  and  also  of  present  interest,  the 
local  details  regarding  the  politics  of  Madras  are  omitted : — 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham  to  Mr.  Melvill, 

(Extract.) 

'  Madras,  ll^A  August,  1840. 

'My  dear  Mr.  Melvill, — I  landed  here  on  the  1st 
instant,  and  am  getting  on  entirely  to  my  satisfaction. 


SIR  SAMFORD   RECOMMENDS   RAPIDITY   OF   MOVEMENT.    469 

Nothing  can  be  more  delightful  than  the  commence- 
ment of  the  intercourse  between  Lord  Elphinstone  and 
myself.  I  never  saw  a  man  more  popular,  and  appa- 
rently most  deservedly.  He  is  in  the  Hills  at  present 
for  his  health ;  but  no  delay  of  business  takes  place,  as 
the  Secretary  of  Government  is  here,  and  he  is  as  inde- 
fatigable as  able. 

'A  battalion,  37th  Native  Infantry,  is  here  under 
orders  for  China.  I  shall  inspect  them  in  a  few  days 
and  probably  have  to  change  the  commanding  officer. 
When  the  troops  have  sailed  I  shall  endeavour  to  join 
Lord  Elphinstone  on  the  Hills.  You  will  receive,  by 
this  mail,  a  memorandum  on  the  importance  of  our 
present  position  in  Affghanistan  and  the  Lower  Scinde, 
written  by  me  at  sea.  The  case  there  assumed  as  more 
than  probable,  has  already  occurred,  and  Bombay  has 

become  the  grand  base  of  our  future  operations 

For  God's  sake,  my  dear  Mr.  Melvill,  let  us  keep  always 
in  mind,  that  we  hold  this  country  by  the  magical  charm 
of  our  supposed  irivincibility,  and  by  the  rapid  progress 
of  our  movements.  A  reinforcement,  such  as  I  propose 
of  all  arms,  arriving  suddenly  at  the  scene  of  action — 
full  of  health  and  strength  and  European  energy — would 
create  an  effect  equal  to  that  of  ten  times  that  number, 
arriving  in  the  usual  slow  and  ordinary  manner.  Our 
sentiments  on  Chinese  affairs  so  entirely  coincide,  that  we 
really  have  no  case  for  discussion.  Asiatic  power  can 
only  be  supported  by  splendid  victories.  If  England  ever, 
attempt  to  play  a  little  game  in  the  East,  she  is  lost.  .  .  . 
Pray  tell  Colonel  Pasley  not  to  forget  to  send  me  out  a 
detailed  account  of  the  powder  bags.  If  he  is  too  busy. 
Captain  Eutherford  will  do  it.  I  am  much  interested  in 
the  result. 

'  Yours  very  truly, 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 


470  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHlTTINGHAM. 

Before  leaving  Madras  to  join  Lord  Elphinstone  on  the 
Hills,  Sir  Samford  with  his  Staff  paid  an  official  visit  to  the 
Eegent  Azeem  Jah  Bahadur,  the  young  Nawab  of  Arcot 
being  a  minor.  Colonel  Walpole,  the  then  Eesident, 
regulated  all  the  proceedings  connected  with  the  interview 
in  the  usual  manner. 

On  the  way  to  the  Hills,  passing  through  Tanjore,  a 
visit  was  due  to  its  Eajah,  but  the  Commander-in-Chief 
being  unwell,  his  Military  Secretary  was  allowed  to  re- 
present him,  and  accompanied  by  the  Eesident  of  Tanjore, 
the  visit  was  duly  paid.  The  party,  including  the  Eesident 
and  Military  Secretary,  consisted  of  six  officers.  At  the 
interview  the  Eajah  sat  at  the  head  of  the  table  on  his 
little  throne,  and  the  visitors  were  seated  three  on  either 
side — the  Eesident  on  the  right  and  the  Secretary  on  the 
left  of  his  Highness.  The  only  peculiarity  about  the  fat 
and  comfortable-looking  Eajah  was,  that  he  was  covered 
with  jewels.  In  that  respect  he  was  quite  a  sight.  The 
Eesident  declared  that,  taken  together,  the  pearls,  diamonds, 
rubies,  emeralds,  &c.,  which  his  Highness  then  wore,  were 
worth  50,000/.;  and  no  doubt  his  mouth  watered  when 
he  said  so.  For,  sad  to  relate,  this  representative  of  the 
Governor  of  Madras,  afterwards  fled  as  an  outlaw  for  sys- 
tematic robbery  of  his  Highness,  which  he  effected  by 
making  the  Eajah  believe  that  the  high-minded  Lord 
Elphinstone  had  an  itching  palm  ;  and  that  by  a  golden 
key,  the  Eajah  might  open  his  way  to  the  gratification  of 
all  his  wishes  !  It  was  a  sad  tale,  fraught  with  shame  and 
dishonour  to  a  family  and  to  connections  that  did  not 
merit  such  disgrace  and  exposure,  at  the  hands  of  one 
of  its  most  high-placed  members.  But  nothing  was  sus- 
pected at  this  time,  and  the  Eesident  was  held  in  great 
respect  and  honour. 

Lord  Elphinstone  received  Sir  Samford  and  his  Staff  in 
the  most  friendly  manner,  and  they  renewed  their  former 
acquaintance  with  mutual  satisfaction. 


LETTER   TO   VAUGHAN   DAVIS.  471 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham  to  Vaughan  Davis,  Esq, 

(Extract.) 

'  OuTACAMUifD,  7th  September,  1840. 

*  Dearest  Vaughan, — I  have  come  up  to  this  place  to 
transact  business  with  Lord  Elphinstone,  whose  health  had 
suffered  very  seriously  from  a  severe  fall  on  horseback, 
when  the  horse  fell  over  on  him.  I  have  found  him  all 
I  could  wish — sensible,  well-informed,  and  possessing 
talents  which  his  extreme  modesty  alone  prevents  from 
commanding  the  high  respect  and  consideration  they 
deserve.  Be  assured  that  the  longer  Lord  Elphinstone 
is  employed,  the  more  he  will  be  appreciated  by  the 
India  House,  and  by  Her  Majesty's  Government.     I  have 

only  brought  up with  me,  and  Bates  and  Dundas 

have  remained  at  Madras  to  get  the  house,  &c.  in  order 
for  my  return,  which  will  be  about  the  end  of  this  month. 
In  the  meantime,  even  this  little  sojourn  on  these  most 
healthy  hills  has  done  me  much  good.  On  a  well-arranged 
system,  no  delay  takes  place  here  in  business,  and  the 
quantum  one  can  get  through  is  tenfold.  On  public 
grounds,  and  for  the  good  of  the  service,  I  should  strongly 
recommend  our  passing  the  hot  months  of  the  summer 
on  these  hills  ;  when  (the  Council  sitting  and  the  heads 
of  a  few  of  the  military  departments  being  with  me), 
everything  else  would  remain  at  Madras,  and  business 
would  be  done  better  and  more  speedily.  I  wish  you 
would  have  a  little  private  conversation  with  Mr.  Melvill 
on  this  really  important  subject. 

'  C is  now  employed  at  Madras,  and  his  prospects 

are  very  good,  and  he  is  giving  me  the  greatest  satisfaction 
in  every  point  of  view,     God  be  praised  for  all  things.     I 

am  truly  glad  to  hear  such  good  accounts  of  dear  B . 

Give  him  my  best  love.  Hatley  Frere  is  going  to  be 
married  to  our  Bishop's  daughter.  She  stands  very  high 
in  the  opinion  of  the  best  people  here. 


472  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  The  vile  West  Indies  have  sadly  shaken  the  old  oak, 
more  indeed  than  I  coidd  have  imagined ;  *  but  as  long  as 
I  can  sit  in  the  saddle,  I  will  never  forget  that  a  soldier's 
existence  belongs  to  his  country,  and  that  it  is  his  duty  to 
die  in  the  trench  when  necessary.  I  have  not  been  able 
to  replace  the  horse  I  lost  on  the  voyage,  and  I  sadly  feel 
the  want  of  that  best  of  all  exercises. 

'  Adieu,  my  beloved  Vaughan, 

'  Your  devotedly  attached  uncle, 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

This  letter  greatly  alarmed  his  affectionate  relatives  in 
England ;  knowing  how  buoyant  and  sanguine  were  his 
spirits,  and  how  little  disposed  he  was  to  dwell  on,  or  to 
magnify  his  ailments.  It  prepared  them  in  some  measure 
for  the  approaching  catastrophe. 

Colonel  U.  Smith  f  to  Sir  S.  Whittingham, 

(Extract.) 

*  Calcutta,  Vlth  September,  1840. 

'  My  dear  Sir  Samford  Whittingham, — There  is  a  sort 
of  freemasonry  amongst  old  soldiers,  who  mutually  shared 
the  dangers  of  their  eventful  lives,  which  so  unites  them 
that  I  cannot  refrain  from  addressing  your  Excellency, 
although  I  do  not  call  to  my  recollection  that  I  have  ever 
had  any  personal  intercourse  with  you  since  a  period  of 
time  so  long  ago  as  when  you  were  A.D.C.  to  poor  ill- 
used  General  Whitelocke,  and  I  a  more  humble  performer, 
adjutant  to  los  Cazadores,  the  95th  Eegiment.  I  say  ill- 
used  General  Whitelocke,  for  as  a  boy  I  thought  so ;  and, 
since  a  more  mature  knowledge  of  our  profession  has  en- 

*  These  words  are  placed  in  italics  by  the  Editor,  for  in  the  opinion  of  all 
the  relatives  and  friends  of  Sir  Samford  V^^hittingham,  that  second  service 
in  the  West  Indies,  greatly  shortened  a  life  that  seemed  made  by  Nature 
to  endure  far  beyond  the  limits  set  by  the  Psalmist. 

t  The  Adjutant-General  of  the  Queen's  troops  in  India,  afterwards  the 
"well-known  Sir  Harry  Smith,  made  a  Baronet  of  Alhval.  He  had  mamed 
a  Spanish  lady  during  the  Peninsular  War. 


SIR  H.  smith's  spontaneous  LETTER  TO  SIR  SAMFORD.    473 

abled  me  better  to  judge,  I  say  so  still  for  many  reasons. 
I  can  call  you  to  my  recollection  in  those  days  as  clearly 
as  if  the  many  wonderful  scenes  of  our  lives  had  never 
occurred,  or  Time,  that  imperceptible  destroyer  of  us  all, 
had  never  progressed.  The  object  of  my  letter  is  one 
which  I  hope  your  Excellency  will  regard  as  it  is  humbly 
intended,  to  offer  to  your  acceptance  any  service  which  it 
may  be  in  my  power  at  any  time  to  render  you.  This 
done,  I  leave  the  power  of  so  doing  to  future  circum- 
stances, and  pray  you  to  calculate  upon  Ohras  y  no 
palabras. 

'Your  Excellency's  command  having  been  indented 
on — that  elegant  expression — for  the  55th  and  62nd 
Eegiments,  has  an  enlivening  appearance;  but  whether 
they  may  enjoy  a  mountainous  climate  or  not,  is  a 
question  to  be  solved.  The  tea  trade,  in  commercial 
language  is  looking  up,  and  everything  has  been  done 
by  Admiral  Elliot  which  was  expected.  I  think  old 
Sir  Varment  Willoughby*  has  his  hands  full,  and  Shah 
Shooja.  Vivas  el  Rey  are  very  likely  to  end  in  Vivas  el 
Emperador\  that  barony  of  Ghuznee  is  far  from  being 
settled. 

'I  hope  your  Excellency  will  not  consider  me  intru- 
sive in  thus  addressing  you ;  but  accept  as  my  apology 
the  high  regard  I  cannot  fail  to  entertain  for  every  soldier 
of  conspicuous  and  bright  career,  and  in  which  [number] 
you  stand  grouped.  May  you  continue  to  enjoy  your  high 
command  in  good  health,  the  great  requisite  of  this  or  any 
country.  Did  you  see  that  noble-hearted  old  Radical 
Admiral  Fleeming  ?  Many  is  the  anecdote  I  have  heard 
of  you  from  him.     Believe  me,  General, 

'  Very  faithfully  and  sincerely  yours, 

'  H.  G.  Smith.' 

The  Editor  also  possessed  a  later  letter  or  rather  note 

*  A  playful  mm  de  guen-e,  for  General  Sir  Willoughby  Cotton. 


474  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

from  Colonel  Smith  to  Sir  Samford,  which  is  unfortu- 
nately lost  or  mislaid.  It  contained  one  important  pas- 
sage ;  the  pleased  expectation  of  the  Staff  at  Calcutta, 
that  the  Commander  at  Madras  would  shortly  succeed 
to  the  supreme  Commander-in-Chief-ship.  By  science 
and  by  experience  assuredly  no  one,  then  available,  was 
fitter  for  the  post,  but  the  race  is  not  always  to  the  swift 
nor  the  battle  to  the  strong.  At  length  Sir  Samford  had 
obtained  in  the  British  army  rank  equal  to  that  which 
twenty-six  years  previously  he  had  obtained  in  the  Spanish 
army.  Was  he  at  last  to  have  that  opportunity  on  a  great 
scale,  which  Sir  Willoughby  Cotton  had  written  was  all 
that  he  wanted,  and  which  in  speech  and  in  writing  Wel- 
lington had  practically  confirmed  ?  That  final  crowning 
of  his  labours  was  denied  him  by  an  unscrutable  but 
allwise  Providence.  That,  indeed,  was  decided  when  the 
prejudices  of  his  father  had  retarded  for  ten  or  twelve 
years  the  entrance  of  his  son  into  the  service,  which 
brought  him  to  the  Peninsula  bereft  of  that  rank,  without 
which  it  is  rarely  possible  to  make  a  great  name,  whilst 
many  men  younger  than  himself  were  already  Enghsh 
Generals.  The  long  and  severe  tropical  services,  with  the 
brain  ever  at  work,  and  finally  the  injurious  second  stay 
in  the  West  Indies,  completed  the  evil,  and  deprived  of 
his  well-merited  rewards  a  servant  of  the  Crown  whose 
great  talents  and  unwearied  zeal  and  abilities  are  proved 
by  testimonies  which,  in  number  and  in  weight,  could 
hardly  be  surpassed. 

On  most  cordial  terms  with  the  Governors,  both  in 
public  and  in  private  matters.  Sir  Samford  was  equally  on 
the  best  of  terms  with  all  the  other  authorities.  Space 
will  not  allow  of  many  proofs ;  but  here  is  one  : — 


LETTER   OF   THE   BISHOP   OF   MADRAS.  475 

Dr.  Spencer^  Bishop  of  Madras^  to  Sir  Samford 
Whittingham. 

<  KoTAGHERRY,  10th  October,  1840. 

'Dear  Sir  Samford, — Accept  my  best  thanks  for  the 
copy  of  your  Excellency's  most  Christian  and  sensible 
letter.*  If  such  principles  are  steadily  acted  upon,  our 
blessed  religion  cannot  be  kept  back  from  this  benighted 
land,  and  I  am  indeed  thankful  that  they  are  held  by 
one  occupying  so  very  distinguished  and  important  a 
station  in  India. 

'  I  most  sincerely  hope  that  your  Excellency  continues 
in  good  health,  and  that  you  do  not  feel  the  Madras 
climate  disagreeable.  My  duties  call  me  to  the  Western 
coast,  and  it  will  be  long  before  I  can  hope  to  visit  the 
Presidency.  May  I  be  permitted  to  add  then  one  induce- 
ment to  wish  myself  there  would  be  the  opportunity  it 
would  afford  me  of  improving  an  acquaintance,  which, 
however,  I  hope  to  be  allowed  to  cultivate  next  year 
under  a  more  genial  sky.  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  dear 
Sir  Samford, 

'  Your  Excellency's  most  faithful  servant, 

'  G.  T.  Madras.' 

The  extreme  courtesy  he  displayed  to  the  amiable 
young  Governor  did  not  prevent  the  Commander-in- 
Chief  from  asserting  his  rights,  and  especially  when  the 
good  of  the  service  required  their  assertion.  In  all  his 
correspondence  with  his  Lordship,  constant  and  copious, 
only  in  one  letter  is  there  the  slightest  cloud,  namely 
in  one  dated  'Madras,  1 9th  October.'  He  there  writes  to 
the  Governor,  that  while  it  is  his  duty  to  carry  his  wishes 
into  effect  as  regards  the  movement  of  troops,  he  is  anxious 

*  This  probably  refers  to  a  letter  written  to  Mr.  James  Cosmo  Melvill 
advocating  the  general  secular  education  of  the  Natives,  as  the  best  means 
of  gradually  destroying  their  superstitions,  without  risk  of  creating  jealousy 
or  animosity. 


476  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

the  details  should  he  left  to  him.  He  goes  on  :  '  There  is 
not  a  company  of  artillery  in  the  command  which  can 
be  said  to  be  fit  for  service ;  for  there  is  not  one  with 
its  complement  of  ofiicers.  Your  private  letter  to  me, 
my  dear  Lord,  was  just  as  satisfactory  as  though  it  had 
come  in  the  most  official  form.  And  I  was  only  anxious 
to  call  your  attention  to  the  state  of  the  personnel  of  our 
artillery,  in  support  of  the  minute  I  have  submitted  to  the 
Council  on  that  subject/ 

'  I  quite  agree  with  you  that  everything  must  be  left  to 
the  decision  of  the  Bombay  Government ;  and  I  rejoice 
that  your  Lordship  has  done  everything  in  your  power  to 
aid  and  assist  that  Government.' 

On  the  8th  November,  he  informs  Lord  Elphinstone: 
'I  know  of  nothing  in  which  officers  in  command  are 
more  often  neglectful  than  in  furnishing  correct  returns  of 
the  real  efficiency  of  the  different  arms.  We  shall  at  last 
arrive  doubtless  at  the  truth  ;  but  unless  attention  be  paid 
to  the  requisite  changes  of  system,  recommended  in  my 
minute  on  the  artillery  of  this  Presidency,  we  shall  never 
be  efficient  in  that  most  important  of  all  arms. 

'  Unless  the  Punjab  were  conquered  and  in  our  posses- 
sion, that  hne  of  our  operations  from  our  North-west 
frontier  to  Affghanistan  must  always  be  more  or  less 
insecure.  Nevertheless  the  assembhng  of  a  large  force  on 
that  frontier  to  protect  our  advance  to  the  Sikh  country 
is  a  wise  and  prudent  measure.  But  under  existing  cir- 
cumstances too  much  attention  cannot  be  paid  to  Herat 
as  the  real  pivot  of  all  our  operations  in  Scinde ;  as  secur- 
ing to  us  the  command  of  the  Indies,  and  of  the  Bolan 
Pass ;  and  consequently  of  our  communicating  from  Bom- 
bay to  Candahar  and  Cabool.' 

The  letter  is  not  extant  to  which  the  following  is  a 
reply : — 


SIR  SAMFORD's   LOYALTr  TO   THE    GOVERNMENT.      477 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham  to  the  Hon,  J.  Sullivan^ 
{Member  of  Council), 

(Extract.) 

'  Madras,  2Uh  November,  1840. 

'  I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  I  regret  the  not  seeing 
you  again  before  your  departure  for  England ;  but  I  trust 
we  shall  pass  many  days  together  on  your  return.  My 
opinion  of  your  delightful  hills  can  never  vary ;  but  there 
is  a  point  of  view  to  which  we  have  none  of  us  hitherto 
given  due  weight.  I  allude  to  the  colonization  of  that 
interesting  part  of  the  country;  which  would  be  the 
certain  consequence  of  locating  a  regiment  in  the  vicinity 
of  Outacamund.  You,  better  than  any  man,  are  acquainted 
with  the  importance  of  those  hills  in  the  military  and  civil 
view.  I  recommend  them  to  your  protection  at  home. 
The  cultivation  of  coffee  alone  would  be  of  infinite  value. 

'  If  you  are  still  inclined  to  let  me  have  your  house  on 
the  Hills,  I  shall  be  happy  to  rent  it  on  your  own  terms, 
from  the  1st  ApriP  next  to  the  1st  October. 

'  With  regard  to  my  Memoirs  on  Indian  affairs,  I  will 
state  to  you  frankly,  that  as  I  predicted  too  truly  many  of 
the  evils  which  have  occurredj  and  as  the  Government 
have  taken  most  active  measures  to  remedy  these  evils,  I 
should  not  wish  to  appear  to  criticize  any  acts  of  my 
superiors,  when  the  time  for  rendering  my  opinions  useful 
has  gone  by, 

'Ever&c.,&c., 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

Noble  sentiments  the  reader  will  allow ;  and  worthy  of 
the  man  who  was  soon  to  die,  as  he  had  lived,  in  the 
arduous  and  zealous  service  of  his  country ;  with  nothing 
to  transmit  to  his  family,  but  a  name  that  he  alone  had 
raised  from  insignificance,  and  under  the  greatest  dis- 

*  Ominous  date  j  wliicli  he  lived  not  to  see.  TJhommc  propose,  mats 
Dieu  dispose. 


478  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

advantages,  to  a  height  which  had  gained  the  esteem  of 
the  most  illustrious  and  most  aristocratic  of  Englishmen ; 
as  recorded  on  many  memorable  occasions. 

Sir  Hugh  Gough  was  now  sent  to  China ;  and  was 
destined  soon  to  be  Sir  Samford's  nominal  successor  at 
Madras,  and  thence  to  pass  on  to  the  chief  command 
in  Calcutta,  on  his  road  to  many  victories  and  two  peer- 
ages, pensions,  and  prize  money,  with  fairy-tale-like 
rapidity. 

The  following  letter  can  hardly  fail  to  interest  the 
reader : — 

Major  Stokes,  Resident  of  Mysore,  to  Sir  Samford 
Whittingham. 

'  Elwak,  16th  November,  1840. 

'  Your  Excellency, — I  had  the  honour  to  receive  in  due 
course  of  post,  your  letter  of  the  5th  October,  with  its  en- 
closed copy  of  a  letter  from  Colonel  Gurwood  to  your 
address  on  the  subject  of  the  '  Wellington  Dispatches.' 
I  also  had  the  honour  to  receive  a  letter  from  Lord 
Elphinstone  on  the  same  subject. 

'  I  am  much  obliged  to  your  Excellency  for  having 
given  me  an  opportunity  of  aiding,  in  however  slight  a 
degree,  in  rendering  more  perfect  a  work  of  such  great 
national  interest  as  that  referred  to. 

'As  required  by  Colonel  Gurwood,  I  have  carefully 
compared  the  letters  and  other  papers  in  the  records  of 
my  office,  bearing  the  signature,  "  Arthur  Wellesley  "  (the 
present  Duke  of  Wellington),  with  the  printed  .copies  of 
them  published  in  the  first  volumes  of  His  Grace's  '  Dis- 
patches.' With  this  day's  post,  you  will  receive  a  packet 
containing  the  particulars  of  the  inaccuracies  in  the  letters, 
which  this  comparison  has  led  to  the  discovery  of,  together 
with  correct  copies  of  eighteen  letters,  bearing  his  Grace's 
signature,  which  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  printed 
volumes  referred  to. 


CORRESPONDENCE  ABOUT  THE  WELLINGTON  DISPATCHES.   479 

'  As  indicative  of  the  industry  of  his  Grace — and  as  every 
particular  connected  with  his  career  must  be  interesting 
to  every  lover  of  his  country — I  have  added  a  column  to 
the  statement  which  I  forward  to  your  Excellency,  which 
will  show  that,  with  very  few  exceptions,  the  whole  of  his 
letters  on  the  records  of  this  department  are  in  his  own 
handwriting. 

'  To  one  who  loves  the  Duke,  as  I  know  your  Excel- 
lency does,  it  will  be  a  gratification  to  hear  that  though 
it  is  thirty-five  years  since  he  was  last  in  the  town  of 
Mysore,  the  name  of  "  Wellesley "  is  still  generally  and 
publicly  known  in  it. 

'  I  have,  &c.,  &c., 

'  T.  D.*  Stokes.' 

In  his  reply  dated  25th  November,  apologizing  for  de- 
lay in  consequence  of  his  suffering  from  ophthalmia  Sir 
Samford  thanks  the  Eesident,  and  promises  to  forward 
all  the  papers  and  also  his  letter  to  Colonel  Gurwood 
by  the  first  opportunity. 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham  to  Colonel  Gurwood. 

•  Madras,  ith  December,  1840. 

'  My  dear  Colonel  Gurwood, — I  have  now  the  pleasure 
to  enclose  the  papers  received  from  Major  Stokes,  the 
Eesident  at  Mysore,  in  answer  to  your  queries  on  the 
subject  of  the  "  Dispatches." 

'  Major  Phillips  of  the  15th  Hussars,  who  proceeds  to 
England  in  the  merchant  ship  '' Reliance,''  to  sail  from 
hence  in  a  few  days,  has  undertaken  to  deliver  them  to 
you. 

'  Should  you  have  any  further  investigations  to  make 
on  this  most  interesting  subject,  I  shall  be  too  happy  to  be 
employed  ;  for  I  consider  myself  in  common  with  every 

*  The  second  initial  of  Christian  names  can  only  be  guessed  at  in  the 
signature. 


480  MEMOIR   OF  SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

British  subject,*  as  owing  to  you  a  debt  of  gratitude  we 
never  can  repay. 

'  Believe  me,  &c., 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

One  of  his  last  extant  letters  is  of  the  23rd  December, 
and  addressed  to  the  late  Lord  (then  Sir  Hussey)  Vivian, 
in  praise  of  his  relative  Major  Vivian,  'a  promising 
young  officer,'  whom  he  intends  to  provide  for  as  soon 
as  possible. 

Of  his  private  letters,  the  following  are  extracted  from 
those  of  latest  date,  supposed  to  be  now  in  existence. 
A  merciful  providence  was  gilding  his  last  days  with 
happiness  and  contentment,  and  preparing  a  bright  and 
cheerful  sunset  for  the  close  of  a  somewhat  harassing 
and  agitated,  though  honourable  career. 

Without  entering  deeply  into  religious  matters,  which, 
though  precious  to  friends,  might  be  out  of  place  in  this 
work,  it  must  here  be  stated,  that  the  state  of  mind  of 
Sir  Samford  Whittingham  had  been  for  some  years  such, 
as  to  render  the  idea  of  sudden  death  terrible  neither  to 
himself,  nor  to  his  friends  ;  and  his  last  letters  fully  es- 
tablish his  possession  of  that  peace  of  mind,  which  prac- 
tical Christianity  nearly  always  instils  into  its  votaries. 

On  the  28th  November  he  writes  to  Miss  Davis,  his 
youngest  niece  :  'Our  overland  communications  being 
stopped,  I  avail  myself  of  the  expected  arrival  of  the  "  Re- 
liance "  from  Calcutta  for  England,  to  prepare  a  letter  for 

dear  home.     C is  still  with  me,  and  is  the  delight 

and  comfort  of  my  life. is  an  able  and  enlightened 

Military  Secretary.  My  house  is  a  home  of  peace  and 
tranquillity ;  and  I  am  more  thankful  to  Almighty  God 
than  I  have  words  to  express,  for  all  his  many  mercies  to 
me  and  mine.  The  w^eather  here  is  now  very  pleasant,  but 
I  have  not  yet  regained  my  former  strength  and  vigour. 

*  More  than  most  men  he  had  cause  for  gratitude;  for  these  Dispatches  by 
doin^  him  justice  have  helped  to  neutralize  tV/justice. 


SIR  samford's  last  letters.  481 

On  the  30th  he  writes  in  the  same  contented  and  cheer- 
ful strain.  '  I  cannot  tell  you  how  very  happy  we  all 
are,  and  what  a  charming  little  family  circle  we  form. 
They  all  study  my  happiness  and  comfort.  This  house  is 
by  far  the  best  I  have  ever  lived  in,  and  we  are  all  well 
lodged.  How  truly  thankful  do  I  feel  to  the  Almighty  for 
all  the  blessings  I  enjoy!  My  health  is  fast  amending,  and 
all  the  young  ones  are  quite  blooming.' 

Two  more  proofs  will  suffice  to  demonstrate  the  happy 
and  religious  state  of  mind,  in  which  his  sudden  summons 
found  him,  to  the  great  consolation  of  his  surviving  rela- 
tives. 

On  the  4th  December,  1840,  he  writes  to  his  younger 
nephew  :  '  Our  overland  correspondence  having  been 
brought  to  a  close,  we  are  bound  to  avail  ourselves  of 
every  private  channel  which  may  present  itself  I  have 
latterly  been  a  great  sufferer  from  an  attack  of  ophthalmia ; 
but  it  is  now,  thank  God,  well  over,  and  has  merely  left 
a  little  weakness  in  the  eyes,  which  makes  me  abstain  from 
writing  more  than  I  like.     Our  domestic  luck  is  quite 

heart  cheering.     C is  living  with  me ;  and  is  the 

charm  and  comfort  of  my  life.     I  hope  to  obtain  for  him 

very  shortly  a  really  good  situation.* is  as  steady 

as  an  old  man  of  business,  and  a  really  able  Military  Secre- 
tary.    B is  my  right  hand  ;  and  I  shall  be  indebted 

to  him  for  whatever  may  be  my  future  independence.f 
In  short,  such  a  family  of  love  and  happiness  I  have 
only  witnessed  at  home.' 

Owing  to  some  stoppage  in  the  overland  route  at  this 
period,  and  the  state  of  his  eyes.  Sir  Samford  did  not 
write  much  during  the  last  few  weeks  of  his  life.  His 
latest  (extant)  letter  was  written  to  his  first,  oldest  and 

•  In  the  Civil  Service. 

t  This  aide-de-camp  successively  served  on  the  StaflP  of  Sir  Samford 
^Tiittingham,  Lord  Elphinstone,  Sir  Robert  Dick,  Lord  Gough,  and  then 
with  Lord  Elphinstone  a  second  time,  equally  valued  and  esteemed  by 
all. 

I  I 


482  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

best  friend,  his  brother-in-law,  an  extract  from  which 
closes  Sir  Samford's  correspondence: — 

<  Madeas,  2Uh  December^  1840. 

*  My   dearest  Brother, — The    long-expected   overland 
mail   has   arrived    at   last,   and   brought   letters   up    to 

October  12th   from   you,  and   the   darling  C ,  my 

dear  Hart,  B ,  and  D .     Only  conceive  what  a 

treat  after  so  long  a  privation,  and  such  a  state  of  un- 
certainty as  to  the  future!  The  only  drawback  is  the 
exceedingly  short  space  allowed  us  to  answer  the  nume- 
rous arrivals.  I  only  received  the  letters  last  night,  and 
the  express  goes  off  to-morrow  evening  ;  and  to-morrow  is 
Christmas  Day.  There  was  a  time  when  that  considera- 
tion would  have  had  little  weight  with  either  you  or  me ; 

but  I  thank  God  that  time  is  over It  is  indeed 

a  blessing  to  find  C all  I  could  wish,  just  the  dear 

amiable  creature  he  used  to  be.  He  is  without  exception 
the  pleasantest  domestic  companion  I  have  known.  In 
the  house  he  is  the  delight  and  comfort  of  us  all.  Alas ! 
for  how  short  a  time  he  has  been  with  us.  He  was 
obliged  to  join  his  station  at  Cuddalore,  where  he  has 

already  arrived.      Pray  tell  my  much-loved  V to 

send  me  "Blunt's  Lectures,"     They  are  intended  as  a 

present  to  C from  me.     's  judgment,  ability, 

and  steadiness,  fill  me  with  admiration  and  pleasure.    He 

is  an  excellent  Military  Secretary There-  is  not  in 

existence  a  human  being  whose  heart  more  overflows 

with  humble  gratitude  to  God  than  mine.  .  .  .    B is 

a  treasure  in  every  sense  of  the  word.'  [After  many 
long  and  endearing  messages  to  aU  his  relatives  the  writer 
continues]  :  '  I  cannot  tell  you,  my  dearest  brother,  with 
what  delight  I  look  forward  to  the  time  of  my  returning 
to  England,  and  to  the  renewal  of  that  intimacy  which 
has  for  so  many  years  been  a  source  of  comfort  and  hap- 
piness to  us  both !  May  our  friendship  and  love  go  on 
increasing  to  the  last  day  of  our  lives ;  and  may  God's 


LORD  F.  somerset's   LETTER  TO   EDITOR.  483 

mercy  grant  that  we  may  yet  pass  a  few  happy  years  to- 
gether. 

*  Your  affectionate  and  devotedly  attached  brother, 

'  Samford  Whittingham.' 

On  the  19th  January  1841,  one  of  the  dragoons  of 
the  Commander-in-Chiefs  escort  was  dispatched  for  the 
Chief's  son,  then  taking  his  afternoon  ride  on  the  Madras 
beach,  who  gallopped  home  in  time  to  witness  the  last 
breath,  and  no  more.  This  sudden  call  w^as  a  mercy  to 
the  departed,  whose  last  moments  were  thus  spared  the 
grief  of  knowing  that  he  was  leaving  his  family  before 
making  adequate  provision  for  them.  And  nothing  could 
exceed  the  kindness  of  Lord  Elphinstone  to  the  sons  of 
the  deceased  General,  and  to  his  personal  Staff. 

Mr.  Melvill,  in  the  name  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Court 
of  Directors,  and  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  Horse- 
Guards,  also  forwarded  their  kind  and  valued  condolences. 
That  of  Lord  Fitzroy  Somerset,  the  Military  Secretary  to 
Lord  Hill,  with  the  account  of  the  funeral,  will  now  close 
this  Memoir  : — 

To  Lieutenant  F.  Whittingham,  67th  Regiment. 

'  HoESE-GuAEDS,  Slst  March,  1841. 

'  My  dear  Sir, — The  last  mail  from  India  brought  me 
your  letter  of  the  22nd  January,  conveying  to  me  the 
melancholy  intelligence  of  the  sudden  death  of  your  father, 
Sir  Samford  Whittingham  ;  and  I  avail  myself  of  the  ear- 
liest opportunity  to  condole  with  you  upon  an  event, 
which  has  not  only  deprived  you  of  a  kind  and  affec- 
tionate father,  upon  whose  assistance  and  exertions  you 
naturally  relied  for  advancement  in  your  profession,  but 
has  likewise  deprived  the  service  of  a  distinguished  Gene- 
ral Officer,  who  was  devoted  to  his  duty,  and  by  the  zeal 
and  abihty  he  had  ever  displayed,  when   the  occasion 

I  I  2 


484  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

was  afforded  him,  had  obtained  the  esteem  and  confi- 
dence of  the  Government  and  the  Commander-in-Chief. 

'  Lord  Hill  most  sincerely  laments  his  loss,  and  desires 
me  to  assure  you  that  he  feels  very  much  for  you,  and 
will  be  happy  when  circumstances  may  enable  him  to 
select  you  for  advancement.  In  the  meantime,  his  Lord- 
ship has  granted  you  leave  of  absence  to  enable  you  to 
remain  in  India :  and  as  no  officer  has  yet  been  selected 
as  successor  to  your  much-regretted  father,  and  in  the 
absence  of  Sir  Hugh  Gough,  Sir  Eobert  Dick  is  supposed 
to  be  acting  Commander-in-Chief,  I  have  received  Lord 
Hill's  directions,  to  express  to  him  his  Lordship's  hopes, 
that  he  would,  if  he  should  be  able,  place  you  in  some 
employment. 

'  I  remain,  dear  Sir, 

*  Your  very  faithful  servant, 

'  FiTZROY  Somerset.' 


SOME  PAETICULAKS  OF  THE  DEMISE  AND  FUNERAL  OF 
THE  LATE  LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  SIR  SAMFORD 
V^HITTINGHAM,  &c.* 

'  It  is  with  extreme  regret  we  have  to  announce  the 
death  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  K.C.B.  and  K.C.H., 
Commander-in-Chief  of  this  Presidency.  The  melancholy 
event  took  place  about  half-past  seven  o'clock  on  Tuesday 
evening  last  (19th  January,  1841). 

'  His  Excellency  had  attended  Council  in  the  course 
of  the  day  ;  and,  on  his  return  home  about  four  o'clock, 
partook  of  some  slight  refreshment,  and  lay  down  for 
a  short  time,  desiring  his  servant  to  call  him  precisely  at 
five,  at  which  hour  he  had  ordered  his  carriage,  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  his  evening's  drive.  After  coming  down 
stairs,  he  went  into  the  compound  to  give  some  directions 
regarding  the  pitching  of  a  tent,  and  almost  immediately 

*  Taken  from  The  Athencmm,  Madras  Newspaper,  of  Thursday,  January 
21,  1841. 


THE    DE;VJISE.  485 

returned  complaining  of  indisposition.  Dr.  Cole  was  sent 
for,  and  arrived  about  a  quarter  to  six,  and  proceeded  at 
once  to  take  from  his  Excellency  a  considerable  quantity 
of  blood  ;  but  apoplexy  quickly  succeeded,  and,  notwith- 
standing that  most  prompt  means  were  adopted,  both  by 
Drs.  Cole  and  Lane,  to  prevent  fatal  consequences,  he  ex- 
pired shortly  after  the  attack. 

'  We  believe  but  one  feeling  exists  with  regard  to  the 
departed,  and  that  of  the  most  favourable  character. 
During  the  short  time  that  he  had  been  amongst  us,  he 
had  secured  to  himself  the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  who 
came  in  contact  with  him.  The  army  had  just  begun  to 
reap  the  fruits  of  his  unremitting  concern  for  its  welfare ; 
and,  from  his  known  reputation  as  a  soldier,  the  highest 
expectations  were  formed  as  to  the  measures  he  would  in 
future  adopt,  to  perfect  its  mechanism,  and  uphold  its 
efficiency.  This  sudden  stroke  at  once  disappoints  the 
hopes  entertained,  and  deprives  the  soldier  of  a  warm 
and  zealous  friend,  and  Her  Majesty's  and  the  Honourable 
Company's  Army  of  an  officer  of  consummate  mihtary 
talent  and  ability. 

'  It  is  an  event  calculated  to  produce  a  serious,  and  we 
hope  also  a  salutary  impression,  throughout  all  ranks  of 
society,  and  especially  in  the  army.  To  his  family  it  is 
a  severe  visitation.  The  suddenness  of  his  death  reads 
an  affecting  lesson  to  the  living.  It  should  not,  there- 
fore, be  permitted  to  pass  by,  without  fixing  in  the  mind 
the  necessity  of  preparing  for  so  solemn  an  event.  The 
records  of  every  day  are  fraught  with  instructions  to  this 
effect ;  but,  when  a  great  man  falls — a  mighty  man,  a 
man  of  war — it  points  a  moral,  the  neglect  of  which 
argues  an  insensibihty  distressingly  painful  to  every  in- 
dividual who  feels  interested  in  the  happiness  of  the 
human  family. 

'The  undermentioned  Official  Orders  were  issued  in 
the  course  of  the  following  day  :  we  merely  insert  them 


486  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

for  the  information  of  our  up-country  readers,  and  to  show 
the  deep  interest  excited  by  this  unexpected  and  truly 
affecting  event. 

'  Garrison  Morning  Orders, 

*  Fort  St.  Geoege,  20th  January,  1841. 

'  It  is  with  extreme  regret  the  Eight  Honourable  the 
Governor  announces  to  the  garrison  the  death  of  Lieu- 
tenant-General  Sir  S.  F.  Whittingham,  K.C.B.  and  K.C.H., 
Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the  Forces  on  this  Estabhsh- 
ment,  which  melancholy  event  occurred  about  half-past 
seven  o'clock  last  night.  In  testimony  of  respect  for 
the  memory  of  the  deceased,  his  Lordship  directs  that 
the  colours  of  the  Fort  be  immediately  hoisted  half-staff 
high,  and  to  continue  so  until  after  the  interment  has 
taken  place ;  and  minute  guns  (15),  corresponding  with 
the  rank  of  the  deceased,  be  fired  from  the  saluting  bat- 
tery, on  the  arrival  of  the  procession  at  the  Government 
Bridge. 

'A  Serjeant,  corporal,  and  twelve  privates,  from  the 
hght  company  of  H.  M.'s  57th  Eegiment  to  be  sent  imme- 
diately to  the  residence  of  the  late  Commander-in-Chief, 
as  a  guard  of  honour  over  his  remains. 

'  F.  L.  DOVETON, 
'  Town  Major. 

'  Garrison  After  Order. 

'  A  funeral  party,  for  the  interment  of  the  late  Lieu- 
tenant-General  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  K.C.B.  and 
K.C.H.,  to  be  formed  at  half-past  five  this  evening,  on 
the  road  leading  from  his  Excellency's  garden  towards 
the  Fort,  by  the  Mount  Eoad,  near  the  Dispensary.  The 
party  to  consist  of  the  whole  of  the  effective  troops  in 
garrison,  with  the  Eight  Honourable  the  Governor's  body- 
guard, and  a  proportion  of  artillery  from  St.  Thomas's 
Mount. 


THE   FUNERAL.  487 

'  Detailed  instructions  respecting  its  order  of  formation 
will  be  issued  from  the  Adjutant-General's  office. 

'  A  salute  of  15  guns  to  be  fired  from  the  saluting  bat- 
tery immediately  after  the  infantry  has  ceased  firing. 

'  The  Eight  Honourable  the  Governor  directs  that  all 
officers  belonging  to  the  garrison,  not  on  duty  with  the 
troops,  will  attend  ;  and  that  every  officer  will  wear  a  piece 
of  black  crape  on  his  left  arm,  and  have  their  ornaments, 
on  hat  or  cap,  also  the  sword-knot,  covered  with  the  same 
material. 

When  the  troops  halt,  to  form  a  street,  no  carriages  or 
other  conveyance  will  be  permitted  to  enter  it,  with  the 
exception  of  those  belonging  to  the  Eight  Honourable  the 
Governor,  the  members  of  Council,  the  judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  and  the  chief  mourners. 

'  Twelve  privates  of  the  light  company  to  be  selected  as 
under-bearers. 

'F.  L.  DOVETON, 
*  Town  Major. 

'  With  deep  regret  the  Eight  Honourable  the  Governor 
in  Council  announces  the  demise  of  his  Excellency  Lieu- 
tenant-General  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  K.C.B.  and 
K.C.H.,  and  requests  the  attendance  of  all  officers,  civil 
and  military,  of  Her  Majesty's  and  the  Honourable  Com- 
pany's service,  and  of  all  other  gentlemen  at  the  presi- 
dency, at  his  Excellency's  funeral  this  evening.  The  pro- 
cession will  move  from  his  residence  to  Fort  St.  George 
at  five  o'clock,  p.m. 

'  Fort  St.  George,  20th  January j  1841. 

'  By  order  of  the  Eight  Honourable  the  Governor  in 
Comicil. 

'  H.  Chamier, 

'  Chief  Secretary. 


488  MEMOIR   OF   SIR   S.  F.  WHITTINGHAM. 

'  General   Orders  by  the  Right  Hon.  the  Governor  in 

Council, 
'Fort  St.  George,  20th  January ^  1841. 

'  With  great-  grief  the  Eight  Hon.  the  Governor  in 
Council  announces  to  the  army  the  demise  of  his  Excel- 
lency Lieutenant -General  Sir  Samford  Whittingham, 
Knight  Commander  of  the  Most  Honourable  Mihtary 
Order  of  the  Bath  and  of  the  Eoyal  Hanoverian  Guelphic 
Order,  Commander-in-Chief  at  this  Presidency,  which 
event  took  place  at  Madras,  on  the  19th  instant. 

'  On  this  melancholy  occasion,  the  flag  of  the  Fort  will 
be  hoisted  half-mast  high ;  and  15  minute  guns,  corre- 
sponding with  the  rank  of  the  late  Commander-in-Chief, 
will  be  fired  at  each  of  the  principal  military  stations 
under  this  government. 

'  The  Governor  in  Council  further  directs,  that  the 
Officers  of  Her  Majesty's  and  the  Hon.  Company's  Army 
will  wear  mourning  for  a  fortnight  from  this  present  date. 

'  By  Order  of  the  Eight  Hon.  The  Governor  in  Council. 

'  H.  Chamier, 

'Chief  Secretary. 

'  Programme. 

*  The  arrangements  made  by  the  authorities  for  con- 
ducting the  procession  were  in  conformity  with  the  fol- 
lowing programme : — 

'  The  troops  ordered  for  the  funeral  of  his  Excellency 
Lieutenant-General  Sir  Samford  Whittingham,  K.C.B.  and 
K.C.H.,  Commander-in-Chief,  &c.,  &c.,  assembled  yes- 
terday afternoon  (the  20th),  at  a  quarter  to  five  o'clock, 
on  the  Mount  Eoad, — under  the  command  of  Lieut.- 
Colonel  E.  E.  Jones,  K.H.,  of  H.  M.'s  57th  regiment.  The 
troops  in  the  garrison  formed  in  column  of  quarter  dis- 
tance, left  in  front,  facing  to  the  Fort ;  the  rear  of  the 
column  halted  opposite  to  the  Athenaeum  Library. 

'  The  artillery  marched  down  left  in  front,  and  formed 
in  rear  of  H.M.'s  57th  regiment. 


THE  FUNEEAL  489 

'  The  procession  moved  in  the  following  order :  — 

Garrison  Band. 

39th   Reg.  N.    I. 

H.  M.'s  57th  Regiment. 

Golundauze  Battalion  of  Artillery. 

2nd  Battalion  of  Artillery. 

The  Right  Honourable  the  Governor's  Body  Guard, 

Band  of  H.lNI.'s  57th  Regiment. 

His  Excellency  the  Commander-in-Chiefs  Charger,  led 

by  Non-commissioned  Officers  of  Cavalry. 

Flanked  by  his  Ex-  Flanked  by  his  Ex- 
cellency the  Com-  /fTTU^  'IKrtJiM  cellency  the  Com- 
mander in  Chief 's  ^4^*^  iOUUg*  mander  in  Chief 'e 
Escort,  in  file.  Escort,  in  file. 

His  Excellency  the  Commander  in  Chiefs  Carriage. 

The  Right  Honourable  the  Governor's  Carriage. 

The  Honourable  the  Chief  Justice's  Carriage. 

The  Honourable  the  Councillors'  Carriages. 

The  Honourable  the  Puisne  Judge's  Carriage. 

Other  Carriages  in  succession. 

'No  carriages  but  those  of  the  chief  mourners,  the 
Eight  Hon.  the  Governor,  the  Members  of  the  Council, 
and  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  were  allowed  to  pass 
beyond  the  Wallajah  Bridge,  where  the  procession  halted. 

'  The  infantry  and  foot-artillery  moved  forward  into  the 
Fort,  passing  by  the  Town  Major's  house  and  main  guard, 
toward  St.  Mary's  church,  where  the  column  halted,  and 
the  troops  formed  street. 

'  The  body-guard  passed  over  the  bridge,  and  formed 
up  in  line  to  the  right  and  left  on  the  road  leading  to  the 
Saluting  Battery  and  General  Hospital,  fronting  the  river, 
resting  upon  their  swords  reversed,  and  the  trumpets 
sounding  a  Dead  March  as  the  hearse  passed. 

'  The  procession  then  moved  forward,  the  troops  rest- 
ing upon  their  arms  reversed,  bands  of  music  playing 
the  Dead  March  in  "  Saul." 

'  The  garrison  band  fell  back  to  the  front  of  the  hearse, 
and  preceded  it  in  its  progress  to  the  church.' 


490  MEMOIR   OF   SIR  S.  P.  WHITTINGHAM. 


'  The  Funeral. 

'  The  procession  followed  the  corpse  in  the  following 

order : — 

The  Eight  Honourable  the  Governor  and  Staff. 

The  Councillors  and  Judges. 

Commander  in  Chief's  Personal  Staff. 

Secretaries  to  Government. 

Members  of  Boards. 

Officers  and  Gentlemen  two  and  two,  the  juniors  leading. 

'  When  the  procession  reached  the  church,  the  artillery 
and  infantry  formed  in  line,  broke  into  columns  of  sub- 
divisions, left  in  front,  and  the  left  resting  upon  St.  Mary's 
church,  the  right  thrown  back,  and  prolonged  towards  St. 
George's  gate.  The  body  was  then  taken  from  the  hearse, 
accompanied  by  pall-bearers,  in  the  persons  of  his  Excel- 
lency the  Governor,*  Col.  Monteith,  Col.  Doveton,  Sir  E. 
Comyn,  and  the  Hon.  Mr.  Bird.  The  corpse  was  then  met 
at  the  gate  by  the  Eev.  Mr.  Mahon,  A.M.  and  the  Eev.  Mr. 
Knox,  B.A.  The  faneral  service  was  chiefly  performed 
by  Mr.  Mahon,  assisted  by  Mr.  Knox,  who  read  the  Psalms 
and  Lessons  usual  for  such  occasions.  After  which  the 
corpse  was  lowered  into  the  grave  by  24  grenadiers  of 
H.M.'s  57th  regiment,  when  three  volleys  were  fired  by 
word  of  command  and  by  signal,  which  was  made  by  the 
garrison  flag  being  hoisted  to  the  mast-head. 

'  During  the  procession  15  minute  guns  were  fired  from 
the  Saluting  Battery,  which  commenced  when  the  hearse 
reached  the  Government  Bridge  ;  and  a  further  salute  of 
15  guns  after  the  body  was  deposited  in  the  grave,  next 
to  Lord  Pigott,  late  Governor  of  Madras,  on  the  north  side 
of  the  pulpit,  facing  the  communion  table,  which  was 
made  known  by  the  hoisting  of  the  garrison  flag. 

'  The    parade    was    then    dismissed,   and   the   troops 

*  Lord  Elphinstone,  then  Governor  of  Madras ;  and,  many  years  later 
Governor  of  Bombay. 


THE   FUNERAL.  491 

marched  to  their  respective  quarters,  right  in  front,  no 
drums  beating  until  outside  of  the  Fort. 

'  The  inner  coffin  was  of  wood,  covered  with  lead,  and 
this  was  again  enclosed  in  a  wooden  case.  We  under- 
stand the  Governor  gave  instructions  for  an  arch  to  be 
thrown  over  the  grave,  which  work  commences  this  day. 

'  The  sight  was  one  of  the  most  afiecting  and  solemnly- 
imposing  that  has  been  witnessed  in  Madras  for  many 
a  day.  Nearly  the  whole  of  the  civil  and  military  service 
at  the  Presidency  were  in  attendance,  and  a  great  multi- 
tude of  people  from  among  all  classes  of  the  population. 

'  The  flag-staffs  at  the  Fort  and  the'  Custom  House  had 
the  union  jack  flying  half  mast  high,  as  was  also  the  case 
with  all  the  ships  in  the  roads.  The  general  feehng  har- 
monized in  every  respect  with  the  mournful  occasion.' 


'* 


*  A  tablet  was  subsequently  put  up  by  his  sons  to  the  memory  of  Sir 
Samford  W^hittingham,  in  the  Garrison  Church  at  Madras. 


J 


APPENDICES, 


APPENDIX   A. 

Cofy  of  Original  Report  of  Major-General  Whittingham  to 
Lieutenant-General  La  Pena,  Commander-in-Chief,  of  his 
Share  in  the  Battle  of  Barossa,  fought  on  March  5,  1811. 

'  Exmo.  Senor, — Como  k  las  dos  de  la  tarde  del  dia  5  del 
corriente  recibi  orden  de  V.  E.  para  quedarme  con  tres  eseua- 
drones  y  dos  companias  de  Caballeria,  y  mil  trecientos  cincuenta 
hombres  de  la  Infanteria  que  mandaba  el  Brigadier  Don  Anto- 
nio Begines  de  los  Rios  en  el  campo  del  Cerro  del  Puerco,  en 
consecuencia  iba  d  tomar  posicion,  uniendome  ^  la  Infanteria, 
cuando  me  avis6  el  Coronel  Don  Luis  Michelena  que  se  veian 
tropas  que  parecian  enemigas  por  su  marcha  acia  nosotros. 
Accelere  la  reunion,  y  reconoci  al  enemigo  que  marchaba  en 
dos  fuertes  columnas,  llevando  un  batallon  de  tropas  ligeras  d 
su  vanguardia ;  la  una  marchaba  directamente  d  mi  posicion,  y 
la  otra  se  prolongaba  por  su  izquierda  para  envolverme.  Mande 
formar  la  Infanteria  en  cuadros,  y  la  Caballeria  al  flanco  iz- 
quierdo  en  escalones  para  sostener  el  punto.  A  este  tiempo 
recibi  la  6rden  de  V.  E.  para  replegarme  sobre  el  grueso  del 
exercito,  y  descubri  ademas  de  las  dos  columnas  enemigas  ya 
dichas,  otra  mas  fuerte  que  venia  acceleradameute  sobre  mi 
izquierda  para  interponerse  al  Pinar  que  mediaba  entre  mi 
campo  y  el  del  exercito,  unico  paso  que  me  quedaba  para  cum- 
plir,  replegandome,  la  ultima  resolucion  de  V.  E.  Las  fuerzas 
enemigas  eran  quadruplas  cuando  menos  d  las  que  yo  tenia. 

'  Determine,  en  virtud  de  dicha  orden,  que  la  Infanteria 
emprendiese  su  retirada  cubierta  por  la  Caballeria.  El  batallon 
Ingles,  a  las  6rdenes  del  Coronel  Bran,  rompio  la  marcha,  y  en 
seguida  las  tropas  Espanolas.  Lleve  conmigo  el  destacamento 
de  Carabineros  Reales,  y  una  compania  de  Husares  Ingleses 


494  APPENDICES. 

para  cubrir  el  flanco  derecho  de  la  linea  de  marcha  retrograda, 
y  interponiendome  entre  esta  y  el  enemigo,  continuando  la  reti- 
rada  hasta  tomar  posesion  del  bosque,  donde  inmediatamente 
coloque  al  Brigadier  Don  Juan  de  la  Cruz,  encargandole  cu- 
briese  el  flanco  derecho  de  la  posicion  que  el  enemigo  ya  inten- 
taba  envoi ver.  En  cumplimiento  ^  mis  instrucciones,  el  Mayor 
Bush,  con  los  Husares  In^eses,  los  Tenientes  Coroneles  Don 
Francisco  Eamonet  y  Don  Francisco  Serrano  con  un  escuadron 
de  Grranaderos,  y  el  de  la  misma  clase  Don  Santiago  Wall  con 
dos  companias  del  de  su  mando,  se  sostuvieron  con  algunas 
guerillas  de  Infanteria,  hasta  que  se  retiro  la  Infanteria,  todo  el 
bagage  del  exercito,  y  las  dos  piezas  de  artilleria,  que  hasta  el 
memento  de  ser  atacadas  vivamente,  hicieron  firmes  un  muy 
acertado  y  vigoroso  fuego  sobre  los  enemigos. 

*  La  Caballeria  cubrio  perfectamente  la  retirada,  y  en  buen 
orden,  no  obstante  las  continuadas  escaramuzas  que  hizo  la 
enemiga  en  todo  su  avance,  reunida  desde  que  se  avisto,  y  mas 
fuerte  en  una  tercera  parte  contra  la  nuestra,  repartida  entonces 
en  varios  puntos. 

*  En  este  memento  divise  el  cuerpo  del  Greneral  Graham,  que 
salia  del  bosque,  dirigiendose  sobre  su  antigua  posicion  de  las 
alturas  ya  ocupadas  por  el  enemigo.  Dificil  seria  dar  una  justa 
idea  del  impetu  con  que  fue  arrojado  de  todas  ellas  por  las 
bayonet^s  Inglesas  el  enemigo  comun  que  venia  cargandonos 
con  tanto  orguUo  y  confianza,  como  si  tuviera  ya  la  victoria  con- 
seguida.  Su  fuerza  era  doble  de  la  Inglesa,  pero  la  victoria, 
aunque  costosa,  fue  completa,  y  decidida  por  el  acero  de  las 
bayonetas.  Se  hubiera  recogido  el  fruto  de  esta  seiialada  Jor- 
nada, aun  mas  alia  del  objeto  principal,  si  los  enemigos  en  su 
precipitada  retirada — pues  abandonaron  alli  sus  heridos  de  todas 
clases  y  caracter,  tres  piezas,  y  dos  carros  de  municiones — hubie- 
ran  side  cargados  de  flanco,  6  amenazados  por  la  retaguardia. 

*  Un  escuadron  de  Husares  Ingleses  que  estaba  a  mi  mando 
ataco  al  de  Gruardia  del  Mariscal  Victor,  lo  destrozo,  y  disperse 
completamente.  Dicho  escuadron  de  Husares  Ingleses,  junta- 
mente  con  el  ya  indicado  de  Grranaderos  Espaiioles  al  mando 
del  Baron  de  Carondelet,  y  las  dos  compaiiias  de  Don  Santiago 
Wall,  cubrian  el  ala  derecha,  y  sostenidos  por  las  tropas  de  los 
Brigadieres  Don  Antonio  Begines  y  Don  Juan  de  la  Cruz,  evi- 
taron  por  su  bizarra  conducta,  y  maniobras,  que  el  enemigo  nos 


APPENDICES.  495 

envoi viese  por  la  playa  como  lo  intento  por  dos  veces.  Aquellas 
dos  compaiiias  se  portaron  con  bizarria,  retirandose  y  avanzando 
oportunamente  sobre  el  enemigo,  como  igaalmente  el  destaca- 
mento  de  Carabineros  Reales.  Toda  la  Caballeria  en  fin  cumplio 
brillantemente  con  su  deber. 

'  El  exercito  enemigo,  despues  de  verse  rechazado  de  las  altu- 
ras,  emprendio  su  retirada  en  orden,  cubierto  por  su  Caballeria. 
Este  fue  el  instante  en  que  me  prometi  reunir  y  obrar  ofensi- 
vamente  con  los  cuatrocientos  caballos  que  tenia  a  mi  disposicion, 
para  lo  que  avise  a  Kamonet,  y  Serrano,  que  en  union  con  Wall 
observasen  y  cooperasen  a  los  movimientos  de  los  Husares 
Ingleses  y  Carabineros  Keales  que  yo  llevaba  conmigo,  cuando 
se  dejo  ver  sobre  la  derecba  de  toda  la  linea  una  columna  de 
Infanteria  como  de  quinientos  hombres,  precedida  de  una  partida 
de  Caballeria,  y  moviendose  como  para  ganar  nuestra  espalda. 
Fue  indispensable  maniobrar  en  su  observacion  mientras  la 
reconocia  un  sargento  y  seis  hombres  del  escuadron  de  Grrana- 
deros,  y  se  me  escapo  la  ocasion  de  cargar  al  enemigo,  que  se 
retiraba  de  priesa,  con  toda  mi  Caballeria  disponible.  A  la 
cabeza  de  los  Husares  Ingleses  segui  sobre  el,  y  resolvi  atacar 
un  trozo  de  Caballeria  situado  al  lado  de  una  laguna,  que  cubria 
su  flanco  izquierdo;  mas  en  mi  marcha  descubri  que  toda  la 
Infanteria  enemiga  se  liabia  colocado  a  su  derecha,  y  sostenido 
por  su  Artilleria,  apoyandose  en  el  Pinar,  situacion  que  no  per- 
mitia  un  movimiento  aislado  6  parcial  contra  dicho  trozo  prote- 
gido  tan  inmediatamente.  En  esta  situacion  se  colocaron  en 
posicion  por  el  Greneral  Grraham  dos  piezas  de  artilleria,  que 
tirando  con  acierto,  obligaron  al  enemigo  a  continuar  su  retirada 
entre  la  laguna  y  el  Pinar  con  direccion  d  Chiclana. 

'  No  puedo  menos  de  suplicar  a  V.  E.  haga  presente  a  S.  A.  S. 
el  particular  merito  d  toda  prueba  que  ban  contrahido  todos  los 
gefes,  oficiales,  y  tropa  que  en  esta  accion  se  hallaron  a  mis 
ordenes,  sin  resolverme  a  individualizar  ante  V.  E.  a  ninguno, 
pues  todos  a  porfia  llenaron  cumplido,  y  honrosamente,  con  su 
deber,  al  paso  que  les  llegaba  la  ocasion  feliz  de  mostrar  a  la 
nacion  que  son  sus  defensores. 

'  Dios  guarde  a  V.  E.  muchos  anos. 

'  Campo  del  Cerro  de  los  Martires,  7  de  Marzo  de  1811. 

'  ExMO.  Senor  Don  Santiago  Wiiittingham. 

^  Exmo.  Senor  Don  Manuel  de  la  Pena, 
General  en  Gefe.' 


496 


APPENDICES. 


APPENDIX   B. 

Return  of  Coiys  of  different  Arms  of  the  Spanish  Ai^my 
under  the  Orders  of  Lieutenant-General  Whittingham,  when 
only  Lieutenant-Colonel  in  the  British  Army, 

Saragossa,  Head-quarters,  April  1,  1814. 


Regiments  of  Infantry 

Regiments  of  Cavalry 

Horse  Artillery 

5th  Battn.  of  Grenadiers 

The  Prince's  Regt.  of  Horse 

Squadrons  5th 

1st  Regt.  of  Cordova 

Santiago                do. 

and  6th,  each 

Ist      do.      Guadalaxara 

Calatrava              do. 

squadron  con- 

1st     do.      Grenada 

Queen's  Dragoons 

sisting  of    3 

2nd    do.      Majorca 

Almanza      do. 

troops,    each 

2nd    do.      Burgos 

Madrid         do. 

troop  4  pieces 

2nd    do.      Murcia 

Soria             do. 

of    8,  and  2 

Ist      do.      NuevaCreacion 

Olivenza  Chasseurs 

howitzers    of 

Cazadores  of  Majorca 

Ubrique        do. 

5  J  inch. 

Company  of  Sappers 

La  Mancha   do. 
Ferdinand  VII.'s  Hussars 

Total : — 9  regiments  of  infantry ;  11  regiments  of  cavalry ;  18  pieces  of 
artillery. 

Military  College  at  Majorca,  founded  by  General  Whittingham,  and 
under  his  direction. 

General  Cavalry  Depot,  established  by  General  Whittingham,  and  under 
his  orders. 


APPENDIX   C. 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham^ s  Letter  to   Viscount  Comhermere 
concerning  Lieutenant  {now  Lieutenant-Colonel)  Caine. 

'  Cawnporb,  November  26,  1827. 

*  My  Lord, — In  compliance  with  your  Lordship's  wishes,  I 
have  the  honour  to  state  officially  the  gallant  conduct  of  Lieu- 
tenant Caine  (late  of  the  14th  Foot),  3rd,  or  Buffs,  at  the 
assault  of  Bhurtpore  on  the  18th  January,  1826. 

'  Lieutenant  Caine  accompanied  the  right  column  of  attack 
(in  his  capacity  of  Major  of  Brigade  of  the  1st  Brigade),  under 
the  command  of  Major  Everard,  14th,  and  continued  at  its  head, 
during  the  day.     Whilst  leading  a  small  party  of  ten  or  twelve 


APPENDICES.  497 

men  in  advance  of  the  column,  he  found  his  progress  arrested 
by  a  deep  cut  in  the  rampart  of  Gropalgurh,  which  he  leaped 
across,  but  his  men  being  unable  to  follow  in  a  similar  manner, 
were  obliged  to  descend  and  reascend  the  rampart  before  they 
could  join  the  Lieutenant,  who  found  himself  singly  opposed  to 
three  of  the  enemy,  two  of  whom  he  killed  with  his  double- 
barrelled  pistol,  and  destroyed  the  third  man  by  closing  with 
and  throwing  him  over  the  rampart  into  the  ditch,  as  the  Lieu- 
tenant found  his  sword  could  not  make  any  impression  through 
the  armour  of  the  Jaut,  which  was  worn  over  a  cotton  jacket. 

*  Lieutenant  Caine  was  the  first  officer  up  at  the  taking  of  the 
Kumbheer  Gate,  which  was  carried  by  him,  with  about  thirty 
men  of  the  14th.  On  Major  Everard's  column  halting  at  the 
bastion  beyond  the  Kumbheer  Grate,  the  Major  found  his  num- 
bers, which  were  originally  300,  dwindled  down  to  not  more 
than  100  or  120  bayonets,  without  one  round  of  ammunition  or 
any  support  whatsoever,  having  in  his  rear  a  rampart  of  nearly 
two  miles  in  extent,  on  which  the  enemy  were  reassembling 
from  the  town.  The  Major,  finding  his  party  in  this  helpless 
situation,  asked  who  would  volunteer  to  head  a  few  men  back, 
and  to  bring  him  a  reinforcement  and  ammunition.  Lieutenant 
Caine  instantly  stepped  forward  and  volunteered  his  services, 
which  were  accepted,  and  with  one  serjeant,  one  corporal,  and 
twelve  men,  he  cut  his  way  through  the  enemy,  drove  them 
from  their  guns,  which  they  had  re-manned,  and  was  the  first 
person  who  reported  to  the  Commander-in-Chief,  Lord  Com- 
ber mere,  the  success  and  situation  of  Major  Everard's  column ; 
and  having  received  the  required  reinforcement  and  ammu- 
nition, he  returned.  The  Lieutenant  was  slightly  wounded  by 
a  grape-shot  in  the  foot  whilst  leading  his  small  party  of  volun- 
teers in  charging  the  enemy's  guns  at  the  Groverdhun  Gate. 

On  the  morning  of  the  19th  January,  Captain  Meade,  Aide- 
de-Camp  to  General  Eeynell,  waited  upon  Lieutenant  Caine, 
and  told  him  that  the  General  had  sent  him,  and  had  been 
pleased  to  approve  of  the  Lieutenant's  conduct  during  the 
assault,  in  consequence  of  a  report  made  by  Major  Everard, 
a-nd  that  therefore  the  Major-General  had  introduced  his  name 
in  the  following  manner,  in  his  despatch  dated  19th  January, 
1826  :— 

' "  Major  Everard  reports  that  Brigade-Major  Caine,  of  the 

K  K 


498 


APPENDICES. 


14th  Regiment,  accompanied  him  throughout,  and  distinguished 
himself  particularly."  ^  have,  &c. 

*  Samford  Whittingham, 
*  Major-General. 
'  His  Excellency  the  Lord  Viscount  Combermere,  G.C.B.,  &c. 
'  Commander-in-Chief  in  India.' 


APPENDIX   D. 

Sir  Samford  Whittingham's  Commissions. 

In  the  British  Service. 

Bom 29th  January,  1772 

Ensign 20th  January,  1803 

Lieutenant 10th  March,  1803 

Captain        .         .  .         .         .         ,  14th  February,  1805 

Major 12th  March,  1810 

Lieutenant-Colonel  (back  dated  to)         .  30th  May,  1811 

Colonel 4th  June,  1814 

Major-General 27th  May,  1825 

Lieutenant-General       ....  28th  June,  1838 

Colonel  of  71st  Highland  Light  Infantry  28th  March,  183S 

hi  the  Spanish  Service. 

Colonel 20th  July,  1808 

Brigadier-General         ....     2nd  March,  1801) 
Mariscal  de  Campo        .       "  .  .  .      12th  August,  1809 

Lieutenant-General       ....     16th  June,  1814 


APPENDIX   E. 

Comr)ianders-in~Chief  of  Lidia,  under  ivhom  Sir  Samford 
Whittingham  served  from  1822  to  1835. 

Date  of  Appointmont. 

The  Marquis  of  Hastings*     .  .  .  12th  March,  1813 

The  Hon.  Sir  Edward  Paget  .  .  3rd  January,  1822 

Viscount  Combermere           .  .  j.  14th  March,  1825 

The  Earl  ofDalhousie            .  .  .  28th  February,  1829 

Sir  Edward  Barnes                .  .  .  7th  June,  1831 

Lord  William  Bentinck  t      .  .  .  17th  May,  1833 

*  Lord  Hastings  was  Governor-General  and  Commander-in-Chief  during 
the  whole  of  his  stay  in  India. 

t  Lord  William  Bentinck  was  Commander-in-Chief  during  a  part  of  the 
latter  half  of  his  rule  as  Governor-General.  Lord  Amherst  succeeded  Lord 
Hastings  as  Governor-General,  and  was  himself  succeeded  by  Lord  AVilliam 
Bentinck.  Thus  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  served  under  three  Governor- 
Generals  and  six  Commanders-in-Chief.  Lord  William  left  India  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1835. 


APPENDICES. 


499 


APPENDIX   F. 

List  of  such  Memoirs  and  Memoranda  ivritten  by  Sir  Bamford 
WIdttlngham  for  Sir  Edward  Paget  or  Lord  William  Ben- 
tinck,  as  are  now  in  the  Possession  of  the  Editor. 


Dates 

Full 

Foolscap 

Pages 

Half 
Margin 

1823 

June  10 

Observations  on  the   Consequences   of  a 

Russian  Invasion  of  India 

15^ 

July  5 

Memoirs  on   the  Burmese  Empire,  com- 

mencing in  1752    

10 

Sept.  30 

Memoir  on  the  Bengal  Army     . 

14^ 

1824 

March  31 

Some  Observations  on  the  Possibility  of 
an  Invasion  of  India  by  Russia  ;  and  on 
the  Nature  and  Extent  of  their  Means 

of  Execution          .         .         .         . 

20 

April  25 

1 

Memorandum  of  the  State  of  the  Bengal 
Army,  as  lianded  over  to  Sir  Edward 

i 

Paget  by  the  Marquis  of  Hastings 

17 

June  28 

Propositions  on  the  Survey  Department     . 

9 

July  19 

Memorandum  on  the  Campaign  in  Burmah 

7 

Nov.  25 

Indian  Army 

30 

Nov.  25* 

Probability  of  a  Russian  Invasion 

11 

— 

Proposed  Distribution  of  Bengal  Army     . 

13 

not  dated 

Expedition  of  the  Burmese  against  Man- 

nipore  and  Cachar  in  1774     . 

17 

not  dated 

India,  as  it  should  be  governed 

14 

1833 

Feb.  22 

On  the  Indian  Army  (sent  to  Lord  W.  B. 

from  DinaiJore)      ..... 

16^ 

Dec.  16 
Dec.  30 
Dec.  31 

Papers  on  similar  Subjects;   altogether 
nearly 

20 

1834 

Feb.  28 

Distribution  of  Southern  Army  of  India    . 

3 

March  5 

Russian    and   British    Administration    of 

Eastern  Colonies  compared    . 

10 

April  7 

Proposed  Organization  and  Distribution  of 
Madras  Army 

10^ 

April  16 

On  the  proposed  Equalization  of  Bengal 

and  Madras  Armies       .... 

6 

1836 

May  15 

An  Inquiry  into  the  Means  of  Attack  on 
British  India,  and  of  the  Defence  to  be 

opposed  to  it 

24 

*  The  dates  refer  to  the  completion  of  the  papers.  Two  appear  to  have 
been  completed  on  the  same  day.  Two  papers  are  without  date,  and  one  paper 
has  only  the  year  marked  on  it.    These  were  probably  rough  copies. 

K  K  2 


INDEX. 


ADAM 

Adam  Colonel;  and  next  General  Sir 
Frederick.  Mentioned  in  General 
Orders  after  Castalla,  by  Sir  John 
Murray;  p.  190.  Governor  of  Ma- 
dras ;  p.  386. 

Alava,  General  Don  Miguel.  His 
valour  at  Medellin;  p.  63.  Ambas- 
sador in  England;  p.  449. 

Alburquerque,  Duke  of.  His  charac- 
ter ;  p.  53.  Himself  and  Staff  saved 
by  the  vigilance  of  Col.  S.  W. ;  p.  56. 
His  gallantry  at  Medellin ;  p.  63. 
His  letters  in  praise  of  Col.  S.  W. 
to  the  Duke  of  York  and  Viscount 
Castlereagh  ;  p.  68.  Saves  Cadiz  by 
a  rapid  march  ;  p.  110.  Kesigns  his 
command;  p.  112.  Ambassador  in 
England;  p.  114.  His  death;  note 
at  p.  114. 

Arabin,  Captain.  (Afteiwards  Colonel.) 
Praised  in  General  Orders  after  Cas- 
talla; p.  190. 

Auckland,  Lord.  His  notes  to  Sir 
S.W.;  pages  413  and  414. 


Barnes,  General  Sir  Edward.  Fifth 
Commander-in-Chief  over  Sir  S.W. ; 
p.  380.  Signs  his  own  official  death- 
warrant;  p.  382.  Is  superseded  by 
Lord  William  Bentinck;  p.  391. 

Bentinck,  General  Lord  William.  Em- 
ploys Col.  S.  W.  at  Aranjuez ;  pages 
50  and  401.  Believes  Sir  John 
Murray  in  the  east  of  Spain  ;  p.  201 
Consults,  in  India,  Sir  S.  W.  regard- 
ing his  personal  Staff;  p.  355. 
Adopts  the  Duke  of  Wellington's 
opinion  of  Sir  S.  W.;  p.  372.  Styles 
Sir  S.  his  Friend  and  Counsellor  ;  p. 
393. 


Cadogan,  Colonel,  the  Hon.  Henry. 
Meets  Capt.  S.  W.  at  Buenos  Ayres ; 
p.  24.  Two  letters  to  him  by  S.  W.; 
pages  43  and  98.  His  heroic  death  ; 
p.  201. 


CUESTA 

Caine,  Captain.  (Now  Lieut.-Colonel.) 
His  great  valour  at  Bhurtpore;  p. 
329.  Made  A.D.C.  to  Sir  S.  W. ; 
p.  345.  Second  to  Sir  S.  in  a  duel 
with  an  Ensign  ;  p.  388. 

Calcutta,  Dr.  Middleton,  Bishop  of. 
Sir  S.  W.  introduced  to  him  by  Wil- 
berforce ;  p.  290.    His  death  ;  p.  305. 

Campbell,  Colonel  Patrick.  His  letter 
to  Sir  S.  W.  concerning  the  English 
Officers  in  Spain  ;  p.  252, 

Castanos,  General.  (Afterwards  Duke 
of  Baylen.)  His  generous  conduct  to 
General  Dupont;  p.  35.  Sends  Col. 
S.  W.  on  special  mission ;  p.  36.  His 
kindness  to  S.  W.  after  Tudela ;  p.  47. 
Gives  away  the  bride  at  the  marriage 
of  Gen.  S.  W.;  p.  109.  Capt.-Gen. 
of  Andalusia;  p.  109.  Appointed  to 
the  Eegency;  p.  133.  Commands 
Army  of  Catalonia  in  1815  ;  p.  254. 

Castlereagh,  Viscount.  (afterwards 
Marquis  of  Londonderry).  Offiirs  Sir 
S.W.  commissionership  of  Austrian 
army;  p.  257.  His  opinion  of  Mr. 
E.  H.  Davis  ;  p.  284,  His  death ;  p. 
304. 

CoLLiNGWOOD,  Lord.  Visit  of  Col.  S.  W. 
to  him  about  treaty  of  Baylen  ;  p.  37. 

Combermere,  General,  (afterwards 
Field-Marshal)  Viscount.  His  cold- 
ness to  Sir  S.  W.;  p.  326.  His 
visit  to  him ;  p.  345.  His  friendli- 
ness to  him ;  pages  346  and  353. 
His  confidence  in  him ;  p.  357. 

CoNSiDiNE,  Captain  William.  His  letters 
to  Sir  S.  W.  on  the  praises  of  the 
Adjutant-General ;  pages  432  and 
437.  His  remarks  on  Sir  George 
Napier ;  p.  433. 

Cotton,  Colonel.  (Afterwards  General 
Sir  Willoughby.)  His  affijctionate 
letters  to  Sir  S.  W. ;  pages  350  and 
353.  His  admiration  of  Sir  Edward 
Paget ;  p.  352. 

Craufurd,  General  Robert.  His  high 
opinion  of  Capt.  S.  W. ;  p.  27. 

CuESTA,  General.     His  folly  loses   the 


In  this  Index  S.  W.  stands  for  SamforJ  Whittingham. 


INDEX. 


501 


DALHOUSIE 

battle  of  MedelUn;  p.  G2.  S.  W. 
was  his  earliest  British  critic;  p.  73. 
His  conduct  before  Talavcra ;  p.  86. 
His  interview  with  Sir  A.  Wellesley  ; 
p.  86.  Eesigns  command ;  p.  95. 
Capt.-Gen.  of  Balearic  Islands ;  p. 
137.  His  hostility  to  everytliing 
English,  and  his  insolence;  p.  148. 
His  death;  p.  150. 

Dalhousie,  Earl  of.  Fourth  Com.-in- 
Chief  over  Sir  S.  VV.;  p.  364. 

Dalbymple,  General  Sir  Hew.  Per- 
mits Capt.  S.  W.  to  join  Gen.  Cas- 
tanos,  as  a  volunteer  ;  p.  30. 

Davis,  Mr.  Eichard  Hart,  M.P.  for 
Bristol.  Writes  to  Sir  S.  W.  of  the 
Duke  of  Wellington's  repeated  praise 
of  him;  p.  371. 

DoNKiN,  General  Sir  Rufane.  His  con- 
duct in  the  affair  between  Sir  S.  W. 
and  Colonel  Napier ;  pages  407  and 
409. 

Eliot,  Hon.  William  Writes  to  Mr. 
Murdoch  to  appoint  Lieut.  Whitting- 
ham  to  meet  Mr.  Pitt,  the  Premier ; 
p.  6. 

Elphinstone,  Lord.  Governor  of  Ma- 
dras ;  (and  afterwards  Governor  of 
Bombay).  His  fears  that  Sir  S.  W. 
might  on  arrival  take  offence  at  his 
absence;  p.  461.  Chief  pall-bearer 
at  the  funeral  of  Sir  S.  W. ;  p.  490. 

Fife,  James  Earl  of.  His  coolness  at 
Talavcra,  when  Lord  Macduff;  p.  90. 
His  letter  to  S.  W.,  conveying  Mar- 
shal SuchcVs  opinion  of  the  latter, 
and  of  the  Majorca  Division  ;  p.  239. 
His  Lordship's  letter  to  Editor  ;  vide 
Preface. 

Fkere,  Mr.  Bartle.  Acts  as  Minister 
on  departure  of  Marquis  Wellesley ; 
p.  104,  Marries  by  proxy  the  sister- 
in-law  of  Gen.  S.  W. ;  p.  271- 

Fkere,  Right  Hon.  John  Hookham. 
Minister  in  Spain,  S.  W.'s  letters  to 
him;  pages  58,  60,  65,  69,  70,  73, 
and  80. 

George  IV.  H.  M.'s  eulogistic  letter, 
introducing  Sir  S.  W.  to  the  Hon. 
Sir  E.  Paget ;  p.  292.  H.  M.'s  high 
opinion  of  Mr.  R.  H.  Davis  ;  p.  284. 

Glenelg,  Lord.  Secretary  of  State  for 
Colonies.  Presents  Sir  S.  W.  to  King 
William  IV,,  at  a  private  audience  ; 
p.  416.  Expresses  to  Mr,  Harford 
his  delight  at  Sir  S.  W.'s  being  ap- 


LINIEKS 

pointed  Colonel  of  71stRegt.;  p.  439. 
Credit  due  to  his  Lordship  for  the 
emancipation  of  negroes  in  the  West 
Indies  ;  p.  441,  His  approval  of  Sir 
S.  W.'s  conduct  in  that  command ; 
p.  453. 

G  ORDON,  Colonel.  (Afterwards  General 
Sir  Willoughby . )  His  praise  of  S.  W. ; 
pages  27  and  41. 

Graham,  General.  (Afterwards  Sir 
Thomas,  and  eventually  Lord  Lyne- 
doch.)  His  laudatory  letter  to  Gen. 
S.  W. ;  page  118.  His  mention  of 
him  in  his  Barrosa  dispatch  ;  p.  124. 

GuBWOOD,  Lieut.-Colonel.  His  corre- 
spondence with  Sir  S,  W.  regarding 
the  Wellington  Dispatches;  pages 
412,  478  and  479. 

Hastings,  Marquis  of.  His  kind  re- 
ception of  Sir  S.  W. ;  p.  297.  His 
confidential  conversations  with  Sir  S. ; 
pages  298  to  301. 

Hill,  Lord.  Gen,  Com8,-in-Chief.  His 
opinion  of  Sir  S.  W. ;  pages  379  and 
484. 

HuGEL,  Baron.  His  terse  description 
of  the  West  Indies  in  a  letter  to  Sir 
S.  W. ;  p.  284. 

Infantado,  Duke  of.  His  want  of  de- 
cision causes  the  defeat  of  General 
Venegas  and  his  own  supersession  ; 
p.  bQ. 

Kent,  H.R,H.  the  Duke  of.  His  two 
letters  to  Mr.  H.  Davis  in  praise  of 
Gen.  S.  W, ;  pages  83  and  132. 

Knighton,  Sir  William.  His  first  ac- 
quaintance with  Gen,  S.  W, ;  p,  95. 
His  testimony  to  the  abilities  of  Sir 
S,  W^;  p.  331. 

La  Pena,  Lieut, -General.  By  joining 
him,  Capt.  S.  W.  took  part  in  bat- 
tle of  Baylen,  and  thus  became  the 
first  Englishman  who  fought  in  Spain 
during  the  Peninsular  War ;  p.  36. 
Is  rejoined  by  S.  W. ;  p.  44.  His 
generous  resignation  in  favour  of  the 
Duke  of  Infantado  ;  p.  53.  Com- 
mander-in-Chief of  Allied  Army  at 
Barrosa;  p.  122.  His  conduct  that 
day  a  matter  of  controversy  still ; 
pp.  122-123.  One  of  the  Generals 
employed  in  regulating  the  order  of 
San  Fernando ;  p,  264. 

LiNiERS,  General,  General  Whitelocke's 
capitulation  with  him  ;  p.  21.  His 
dinner  to  the  British  chiefp,  and 
modest  behaviour  ;  p.  22. 


502 


INDEX. 


LIVERPOOL 

Liverpool,  Earl  of.  His  letter  to  Mr. 
Davis  on  Sir  S.  W.'s  defence  of  the 
Bengal  Grovernment ;  p.  331. 

Macdonald,  General  Sir  John,  Adjutant 
General.  His  praise  of  Sir  S.  W. ; 
p.  432  and  437.  His  congratula- 
tory letter  on  the  Colonelcy  of  71st 
Regt. ;  p.  436. 

Madkas,  Dr.  Spencer,  Bishop  of.  His 
letter  of  thanks  to  Sir  S.  W.;  p.  475. 

Majorca,  Llaneres,  the  Bishop  of.  His 
great  liberality  to  the  Military  Col- 
lege, founded  by  Gen,  S.  W. ;  p.  154. 

MoxTEXEGRO,  Count.  Congratulates 
Sir  S.  W.  on  having  greatly  contri- 
buted to  the  suppression  of  the 
Spanish  Slave-Trade;  p.  275. 

MoNTiJO,  Count  of.  His  base  conduct 
occasions  Sir  S.  W.  to  make  a  very 
elfeetive  speech  to  a  furious  Spanish 
mob ;  p.  48. 

Murdoch,  Mr.  Thomas.  Introduces 
Lieut.  S.  W.  to  Mr.  Pitt,  the  Pre- 
mier ;  p.  6. 

Murray,  Lieut.-General  Sir  John. 
Mentions  Gen.  S.  W.  three  times  in 
General  Orders,  pages  183  and  190  ; 
again  names  him  in  his  dispatch 
after  Castalla;  p.  195.  His  trial  and 
virtual  acquittal ;  p.  250. 

O'Reilly,  Colonel,  Barbarously  mur- 
dered by  French  soldiers;  p.  213. 

Paget,  Admiral  the  Hon.  Sir  Charles. 
Thanks  Sir  S.  "W,  for  sending  the 
65th  Regt,  to  Canada  diiring  the  re- 
bellion ;  p,  433.  His  '  heart  and  soul ' 
remark  regarding  Sir  S.  W.;  p.  437. 
His  death ;  p.  440. 

Paget,  General,  the  Hon.  Sir  Edward. 
His  rapid  promotion  ;  p.  8.  Com"",- 
in-Chief  in  India;  p.  302,  Employs 
Sir  S.  W.  in  drawing  up  '  a  General 
State  of  India';  p.  307.  Resolves 
to  keep  Sir  S,  always  with  him ;  p. 
309.  Writes  to  Earl  Bathurst  that 
Sir  S.  W.  created  the  means  by  which 
Bhurtfore  was  taken  ;  p,  340.  De- 
clines to  be  second  in  any  duel ; 
p.  405.  His  dinner  to  Sir  S,  W.  and 
son  at  Chelsea  Hospital;  p.  455. 
What  Gen.  Sir  Charles  Napier 
thought  of  Sir  Edward  Paget;  see 
Preface. 

Palmerston,  Viscount.  His  letter  of 
thanks  to  Sir  S.  W.  for  a  Memoir  on 
Russia  and  India,  and  a  plan  ;  p, 
424. 


VENEGAS 

Pellew,  Admiral  Sir  Edward.  (After- 
wards Viscoimt  Exmouth.)  His  cor- 
respondence with  General  S.  W. :  pp. 
141,  154,  and  161. 

Pitt,  Right  Hon.  William.  Employs 
Lieut.  S.  W.  on  a  secret  mission ;  p.  7- 

Roche,  Colonel.  (Afterwards  Sir 
Keating  Roche.)  His  letter  to  Mr. 
R.  H.  Davis  on  the  gallantry  and 
wound  of  Sir  S,  W.at  Talavera;  p.  91. 

RuTi,  Captain.  The  gallantry  and 
energy  of  this  Spanish  Officer ; 
pages  180  and  215. 

Smith,  Colonel,  Sir  Charles  Eelix. 
His  eulogistic  letter  to  Sir  S.  W. ; 
p.  467. 

Smith,  Colonel.  (Afterwards  General 
Sir  Harry  Smith  of  AUwal.)  His 
spontaneous  letter  to  Sir  S.  W. ;  p. 
472. 

Somerset,  Lord  Fitzroy.  (Afterwards 
Lord  Raglan.)  His  letter  to  the 
Editor,  on  the  death  of  Sir  S.  W. ; 
p,  483, 

Spain,  Ferdinand  King  of.  His  first 
meeting  with  Gen.  S.  W. ;  p.  231. 
The  Royal  gift;  p.  233.  Account  of 
the  King's  return  to  Spain,  from 
the  Becollections ;  p.  243.  Gen.  S 
W.  gives  H.  M.  a  paper  on  the  Slave 
Trade;  p.  261.  H.M.  invites  him  to 
ask  for  favours  which  are  declined ; 
p.  266.  His  last  visit  from  Sir  S.  W. ; 
p.  277. 

Tatischeff,  M,  de.  Russian  Ambassa- 
dor to  Spain,  His  great  influence  with 
king  Ferdinand;  pages  246  and  273. 

Taylor,  Sir  Herbert.  His  eulogistic 
letter  to  Sir  S.  W. ;  p.  336.  Deems 
Sir  E.  Paget  to  have  ensured  the 
success  in  Bicrmak,  and  atBkurtpore; 
p.  356. 

ToRRENS,  Colonel.  (Afterwards  Ge- 
neral Sir  Henry.)  Successively 
Military  Secretary,  and  Adjutant- 
General  at  the  Horse-Guards.  His 
praises  of  S.  W. ;  pages  142  and 
223.  His  very  striking  letter  to 
Sir  E.  Paget  introducing  Sir  S. ; 
p,  293. 

Vaughan,  Right  Hon.  Charles,  H.M.'s 
Minister  in  Spain.  His  grateful  men- 
tion to  Lord  Castlereagh  of  Sir  S.  W.'s 
diplomatic  services  ;  p.  268. 

Venegas,  General.  General  S.  W.  sent 
to  him  on  mission  by  Loid  Welling- 


INDEX. 


503 


WALKER 

ton  ;    pp.  107  and  109.      Lord   W.'s 
confidence  in  Venegas;  p.  110. 

Walkeb,  Colonel  (afterwards  General) 
David.  He  and  the  officers  of  58th 
Eegt.  most  happy  to  serve  under  Ge- 
neral S.  W. ;  p.  175. 

Welleslky,  Right  Hon.  Henry.  (After- 
wards Sir  Henry.  Eventually  the 
first  Lord  Cowley.)  His  arrival  in 
Spain;  p.  111.  His  letter  praising 
Gen.  S.  W.'s  formation  of  a  Spanish 
cavalry  corps;  p.  119.  Requests 
him  not  to  resign  his  Spanish  com- 
mand ;  p.  1 64.  Congratulates  him 
on  the  success,  in  the  field,  of  the 
Majorca  Division  ;  p.  187-  His  first 
letter  to  Lord  Castlereagh  on  the 
militari/  services  of  Gen.  S.  W. ;  p. 
237.  His  letter  to  the  Duke  of  York, 
regarding  his  great  diplomatic  obli- 
gations to  Sir  S.  W. ;  p.  271.  His 
second  letter  to  Lord  Castlereagh 
on  the  services  of  Sir  S.  W.  and 
their  being  unrewarded  by  tlie 
Spanish  Gt^vernment;  p.  279. 

Wellesley,  Marquis.  His  letter  to 
Mr.  R.  H.  Davis,  regarding  certain 
papers  written  by  S.  W. ;  p.  82.  At- 
taches S.  W.  to  the  Embassy;  p. 
95.  His  letter  of  thanks  and  praise 
at  his  departure  from  Spain  ;  p.  105. 
His  kind  letter  to  Gen,  S.  W.  from 
England,  when  Secretary  of  Sbate  for 
Foreign  affairs  ;  p.  120. 

"Wellington  (the  Hon.  Sir  Arthur 
Wellesley,  successively  Lord  and), 
Duke  of.  His  honourable  mention 
in  his  dispatch  of  Brig'".-Gen.  S.  W.'s 
being  wounded  at  Talavera  whilst 
bringing  two  Spanish  battalions  into 
action;  p.  92.  Some  of  his  proofs 
of  confidence  in  Gen.  S.  W. ;  pages 
106  and  107.  Grants  the  Inspector- 
ship which  he  had  at  first  refused, 
as  irregular;  p.  177.  Extract  of  his 
dispatch  to  Earl  Bat  hurst  forward- 
ing Sir  John  Murray's  report  of  two 
of  Gen.  S.  W.'s  affairs  of  advanced 
guards,  and  specially  reporting  him- 


YORK 

self  that  Gen.  S.  W.  had  driven 
Suchet's  advanced  guard  through  the 
pass  of  Alhayda;  p.  184.  Declines 
in  the  matter  of  Inspectors  of  Spanish 
troops  (writing  to  Lord  William 
Bentinck)  to  do  for  '  anybody  else ' 
what  he  had  done  for  Gen.  S.  W. ;  p. 
205.  '  Feels  the  utmost  concern ' 
at  the  resignation  of  Gen.  S.  W., 
and  persuades  its  withdrawal ;  p. 
216.  Indirectly  confirms  the  esti- 
mate formed  by  Gen.  S.  W.  of  King 
Ferdinand ;  note  at  p.  233.  His 
comprehensive  official  letter  to  the 
Duke  of  York  on  the  Peninsular 
services  of  S.  W.;  p.  234.  States 
and  repeats  (sixteen  years  later)  to 
Mr.  R.  H.  Davis  that  '  We  had  not 
such  another  officer  in  the  army'  as 
Sir  S.  W.;  p.  371.  His  Grace's  note  to 
Sir  S.  W.on  the  death  of  Sir  William 
Knighton  ;  p.  419.  Writes  to  Sir  S. 
W.  that  he  '  shall  be  at  all  times 
very  happy  to  receive  him  ;'  p.  457. 

WiiiTELOCKE,  Lieut.-General.  Appoints 
Captain  S.  W.  to  be  one  of  his  aides- 
de-camp  ;  p.  12.  Employs  him  on 
very  hazardous  service;  p.  16.  His 
trial,  condemnation,  and  sentence ; 
p.  25. 

WiLBERFORCB,  Mr.  William,  M.P.  His 
dictated  letter  introducing  Sir  S.  W. 
to  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta;  p.  290. 
His  autograph  letter  to  Sir  S. ;  p.  291. 

William  IV.  His  Majesty's  audience 
to  Sir  S.  W.  before  starting  for  the 
West  Indies,  and  his  gracious  re- 
marks;  p.  416. 

York,  H.R.H.  the  Duke  of.  Recom- 
mends Sir  S.  W.  to  Sir  Henry  Wel- 
lesley ;  p.  258.  His  letter  to  Mr. 
Davis  in  praise  of  Sir  S.  W. ;  p.  271. 
His  letter  to  Sir  E.  Paget  recom- 
mending Sir  S.W.  as  •  highly  deserv- 
ing of  his  confidence;'  p.  292.  Ex- 
presses, through  Sir  Herbert  Taylor, 
the  interest  with  which  he  had  read 
Sir  S.  W.'s  journal  of  the  siege  of 
Bhurfpore;  p.  337. 


THE   END. 


LCNDOX:    PKINTED    BY 

SrOTTISWOODE    .lA'D    CO.,    NEW-STKEET    SQUARE 

A>'D    PARLIAMENT    STBEEX 


EXTRACTS    FROM    REVIEWS 

( Which    appeared    up   to    the    completion  of  the  printing  of  th 
New  Edition). 


PALL  MALL  GAZETTE. 

'  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  was  one  of  those  men  whose  lives  ought  to  be 
written  ....  and  though  he  died  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Madras  army,  we 
may  safely  hazard  the  assertion  that  few  soldiers  who  have  done  so  much  have 
received  so  little  public  recognition  of  their  courage,  loyalty,  and  military 
capacity  as  that  which  fell  to  his  lot.  His  career  is  specially  interesting,  as  being 
that  of  one  who  was  born  to  be  a  soldier,  and  who,  in  many  respects,  came  up  to 
the  popular  ideal  of  a  soldier,  sans  peur  et  sans  re/proche.  .  .  .  The  story  of  the 
battle  [of  Talavera],  so  far  as  it  came  under  Whittingham's  own  eyes,  is  as  lively 
an  account  of  the  horrors,  and  moreover  of  the  ludicrous  aspects,  of  a  murderous 
conflict  as  we  have  ever  come  across.' 

EXAMINER. 

*  The  estimate  of  his  character,  which  his  son  leaves  the  reader  to  draw  for 
himself,  is  that  of  a  brave,  clear-headed,  just,  and  stern  warrior,  apt  at  organising 
raw  levies,  and  capable  of  any  work  that  might  be  entrusted  to  him.  His 
go  .erosity,  amiability,  and  unselfishness  are  patent  everywhere  to  the  most  careless 
reader.  Many  of  the  sentiments  expressed  in  his  correspondence,  and  not  a  few 
of  the  ideas  worked  out  in  his  memoranda,  show  his  sagacity,  wisdom,  and 
foresight.' 

MORNING  POST. 

'He  [Sir  Samford']  was  constantly  occupied  in  the  negotiations  between  the 
English  and  Spanish  Governments,  as  well  as  in  the  various  military  operations 
during  the  campaigns,  and  describes  with  much  ability  the  scenes  that  ho 
witnessed.  His  opinions  on  passing  events  are  written  with  soldier-like  frank- 
ness, and  display  remarkable  powers  of  discrimination  and  foresight.  .  .  .  The 
biographer  has  displayed  much  impartiality,  although  coupled  with  a  natural 
pride  in  his  father's  distinguished  services.  .  .  .  The  memoirs  ....  are  altogether 
very  interesting,  and  afford  a  valuable  study  for  young  soldiers.' 

UNITED  SERVICE  MAGAZINE. 

'  Ax  officer  whose  services  are  not  so  well  known  as  they  ought  to  be,  and 
though  recorded  by  Wellington,  and  published  in  the  London  Gazette,  are  not  to 
be  found  in  "  Napier."  ....  Though  only  an  English  Captain  till  1810  ....  he 
was,  in  fact,  a  General  Officer  in  command  of  large  bodies  of  [SpanisK]  troops  that 
did  good  service ;  among  them  the  Majorca  division  ....  of  which  Marshal 
Suchet,  after  the  war,  spoke  as  being  "  in  as  high  a  military  state  as  any  of  his 
own  troops."  ....  The  reader  will  find  many  acute  remarks  on  men  and  things 
in  India  ....  which,  had  they  received  the  attention  that  they  merited,  would 
have  caused  the  transfer  of  the  Government  to  the  Crown,  and  might  probably 
liave  averted  the  Indian  Mutiny.  .  .  .  The  care  that  he  took  of  tlie  health  of  his 
troops  shows  that  he  was  as  earnest  and  enlightened  as  any  sanatory  refonner  of 
tlio  pi'esent  day.  Taken  altogether,  this  memoir  is  one  that  deserves  an  attentive 
perusal,  which  it  will  well  repay.' 


Extracts  from  lieviews. 


JOHN  BULL. 

'  This  goodly  volumo  recoi'ds  the  gallant  deeds  of  one  of  England's  bravest 
soldiers,  of  whose  history  it  is  to  be  feared  his  countrymen  generally  are  ignorant. 
Yet  his  military  career  ....  was  one  of  no  ordinary  character ;  and  the 
testimony  borne  to  his  worth  by  the  great  Duke  must  be  not  only  satisfactory  to 
his  family,  but  should  commend  the  work  to  the  general  public,  for  Sir  S.  F. 
Whittingham  was  not  merely  a  soldier,  though  devoted  to  his  profession,  but 
performed  important  civil  functions.' 

PRESS. 

'  These  memoirs,  published  by  his  son,  are  worthy  of  this  permanent  record. 
They  illustrate  the  history  of  two  important  epochs,  by  throwing  light  on  the  state 
of  the  Peninsula  during  the  first  quarter,  and  by  explaining  the  position  of  affairs 
in  India  during  the  early  portion  of  the  second  quarter,  of  this  century.' 

STAR. 

*  The  name  of  Sir  Samford  Whittingham  is  one  little  known,  yet  he  was  a  brave 
soldier,  a  good  administrator,  and  an  able  general.  The  memoir  seems  to  be  well 
and  conscientiously  done.     It  is  extremely  interesting.' 

OBSERVER. 

'  It  is  never  too  late  to  correct  statements  of  historical  events.  .  .  .  The 
memoirs  will,  no  doubt,  be  read  with  great  satisfaction.' 

DAILY  NEWS. 
'  He  had  the  ....  disadvantage  of  being  an  Englishman.     If  he  had  only 
had   the  good  fortune  to  hail  from  north  of  the  Tweed,  or  west  of  the   Irish 
Channel,  we  should  have  had  no  end  of  solos  on  the  trumpet  of  Fame  to  his 
honour.     As  it  is,  we  are  glad  to  receive  this  record  of  his  services.' 

ATHEN/EUM. 

'  He  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  appreciating  adversaries  {the  reviewer  here 
quotes  Marshal  Suchefs  testimony/),  and  may  be  said  to  have  fought  his  way  to 
distinction.  He  was  a  gentleman  as  well  as  a  soldier,  and  had  a  quick  eye  to  see 
what  was  before  him.  .  .  .  King  Ferdinand  had  a  valuable  general  in  our  hero. 
....  If  OUT  readers  would  refresh  their  memories  touching  the  fiasco  at  Buenos 
Ayres  ....  and  if  they  have  curiosity  about  incidents  of  military  life  in  various 
parts  of  the  world,  they  will  find  their  account  by  looking  into  these  memoirs  of  a 
gallant  old  English  soldier.' 

UNITED  SERVICE  GAZETTE. 

'  The  subject  of  this  biography  is,  in  fact,  made  to  tell  his  own  story,  and  a 
very  pleasant  and  instructive  story  it  is  for  all  military  readers.' 

BRISTOL  TIMES. 

'  The  subject  of  the  memoir  ....  may  be  readily  accepted  as  one  of  old 
Bristol's  sonsi  of  whom  she  may  be  justly  proud.' 

STANDARD. 

'  He  [the  Editor]  tells  us  all  the  facts  concerning  a  career  that  ought  to  interest 
every  soldier  of  England's  army.  .  .  .  The  imputations  against  his  father  the 
author  eifectually  rebuts  ....  the  vindication  of  Sir  Samford's  conduct  and 
motives  is  complete  ....  whose  reputation  will  be  not  inconsiderably  enhanced 
by  these  memoirs  of  a  life  well  spent  in  the  service  of  England.' 


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